The Other Guardian
by AquaWolfGirl
Summary: He loves his job, he really does. Making kids happy day after day after day; nothing could be better. But sometimes he wants things to be a bit more, well, interesting. And new Guardian Jack Frost definitely makes things interesting... Especially when Pitch has found a new way to gain power Jack/OC SLASH
1. Prologue

**As most of my friends know, I've caught the Frost, er, flu? I've become officially obsessed with Jack Frost. Ironic that the personification of winter is so fuckin' hot! Anyways, this idea came to me as I was going to bed. Needed an OC, and something that kids believed in. Jack Frost was taken, Santa was taken, Easter Bunny was taken, yada yada. Then it hit me. Imaginary friends. I think every kid is bound to have one, or more, at some point. I don't remember any of mine, but I asked a lot of my friends and they gave me some good ideas. So I wrote it down before I lost it. This went through several revisions, and will probably go through several more as it goes on because I'm always nervous I'm doing **_**something **_**wrong. Hope you enjoy!**

**I don't own anything except for my OC - Rise of the Guardians belongs to its respectful owners.**

**Edit – my usual beta bit the bullet and saw the movie, and now loves it as much as I do! So I'm revising the already posted chapters. I'm not changing much, but old readers might want to look back and see what I changed. I like it much better, and fits the plan that I have for it. :) Hope you like it! **

It's like a nudge at the back of his mind, the sense that a child wants a friend. An image of a child, and a flicker of a friend poke at his thoughts.

"All right, all right. Shush already." He chides, having just sent another friend on its way to its child. The little nudge seems to listen, and stops poking for the moment. He sighs, and pinches the bridge of his nose to help ease the headache that's only just started.

It's a Saturday. Statistically, kids are more likely to call on their imaginary friends on a Saturday than any other day. The kids are away from school and their real life friends, and if they don't have a commitment, they're playing. And playing is much more fun when it's with a playmate.

He has a love-hate relationship with the last day of the week. On one hand, he's working his ass off, sending friend after friend through the door and to its assigned kid. On the other hand, he's making more kids happy than any other day of the week. The right corner of his lips quirks up at the thought.

Yeah, it's worth the work.

He's brought out of his musings by the nudge coming back, tapping at his thoughts like a nosey neighbor, insisting that yes, he has to answer it this time.

Another child in need of a friend.

A few thoughts reveal the child to be Thomas Green. The boy's imaginary friend is a something of a blue tinted monkey that likes pancakes and apple sauce, and likes race cars just as much as the boy does.

He chuckles. Kids and their imaginations.

Making a few gestures with his right hand, a blue monkey appears, cackling and jumping about impatiently. It's cute, if he does say so himself. It's creatures that are the easiest – getting the human companions is much more difficult.

The monkey makes an annoyed shriek at being held from his human companion.

"Go ahead." He gestures to the door, and the monkey lumbers out, swishing its tail back and forth.

Thomas Green's name gets a check, and another child gets a friend.

Yes, definitely worth the extra work.

**Short, yes. But it will be longer once I figure out where I'm going with it. And once I figure out what the heck this Guardian's name is. *goes into L thinking pose***

**Reviews are love, and might just push me to actually continuing this story. Continuing a story, how unusual of me.**

**Thanks for reading!**


	2. Frostbite

**Okay. Seriously. I think I've done pretty much EVERYTHING related to this story that I possibly can. Sketching, designing, making videos, etc.**

**Everything except, you know, write it.**

**But no worries, new chapter is up! And I'd like to give shoutouts to my ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC REVIEWERS (Fireotaku18, candycrazy12346, S. Rune, RenkinMaitai, DragonMistress11, Frost lover, and Jack frost fan) THANK YOU! You guys made my day!**

**And a SUPER FANTASTICAL SHOUTOUT to NoNameX who wrote such a nice review it made me cry. In the middle of math class. Extra love and cookies for you! Don't worry, the elves didn't lick them.**

**Huntress Under Seige played a HUGE PART in contributing to this - THANK YOU FOR HELPING WITH EVERYTHING AND READING IT AND LISTENING TO MY RANTS!**

**As for how my character talks (name will be revealed in chapter! I swear I spent three days trying to narrow it down), he has an Irish accent. We've got Russian, and Australian already down. I declare a need for European, and British is so ordinary these days (plus I think Pitch has a British accent... kind of hard to tell), so I decided on Irish. I blame my own way of speaking for that one.**

**All right, explanation complete. **

**And seriously guys. Review. This story got what, about 400 views? And 8 reviews. **

**...**

**Somethin's off here. **

**REVIEW! Seriously, it makes my day and makes me get stuff out faster. Plus, you know, a shoutout and virtual cookies aren't bad either. **

**Thanks, and I hope you enjoy!**

**WARNING FOR LANGUAGE! If you're uncomfortable with that, then I recommend leaving as it will be present throughout the whole story.  
**

**Edit - I've changed this chapter a bit (see Prologue's AN for more) and to old readers, you might want to take a gander at what I changed. Nothing too serious, don't worry. **

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"Sir, North is calling." His AI's voice comes from one of the monitors.

He jolts, hitting his head on the under side of the desk. His hand flies up and rubs the back of his head as he bites his tongue to refrain from letting a string of curses loose.

The Guardian of Wonder always did have the worst timing.

He abandons all decorum in favor of letting his frustration show. "Shit." He curses, running his free hand through his hair.

The nudge in the back of his mind telling him there's a new child wanting a friend is close to constant now, feeling almost like a jackhammer against his brain. And just his luck one of the systems conked out due to a stray wire. One of his hands is holding said wire while the other one's haphazardly creating friends, resulting in wrong-colored eyes and legs just a bit too long on one particular horse friend.

"Tell 'im I'm busy. Leave a message." He mutters. Now did the loose wire connect with the open red wire one or the blue one?

"He says it's urgent, sir." The AI replies stiffly.

"Then tell 'im to leave it urgently." He snaps. It's the red, he thinks. Definitely the red wire.

"Callen!" North's voice booms across the room, and he hisses as the open end of the wire touches the red wire, resulting in a large spark that shocks his fingertips.

Either his AI system let North through despite his orders, or the other Guardian had somehow hacked into the system. Knowing North, he assumes the latter.

Removing his head from under the desk, he sees that North's face takes up most of the monitor and the Guardian's looking at him expectantly.

"Wee bit busy here, old man. Call back later?" He asks. He runs his finger over the burn – that's going to leave a mark.

"It's urgent, Callen!" North declares. He doesn't sound urgent, Callen thinks. If anything he sounds excited. The older man looks like he's about to start jumping up and down any moment.

"Yeah, I got that. What do you need?" Callen winces as he picks up the wire again, trying the blue wire this time.

North's practically beaming. "Come to the Pole!"

Callen removes himself from under the desk again and blinks at the other Guardian. "What, now? What part of 'busy' do you not understand?" As if on cue, his head throbs with the backup of Friends waiting to be created.

"You can make friends here, no?" North questions.

"Well, yeah, but-"

"Then it's settled!" North looks extremely pleased with himself, grinning almost smugly.

Callen pinches the bridge of his nose. "Is this an official Guardian meetin'?"

North seems to think about it. "Yes?"

"Are you just sayin' that to make me come?"

The older man has the decency to look slightly ashamed.

Callen sighs. "Fine. I'll be there at the end of the hour."

"Excellent!" North announces. "The others will be excited!"

"Wait, what others-"

The screen goes black, and Callen huffs. "To the Pole." He glances the broken system. The wire had somehow melted the casing of the others around it. "As soon as I fix this."

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He's always hated the Pole. It's cold, and while the Yeti's are friendly enough the elves are simply annoying. Always eating the cookies and getting underfoot. Plus he could do without the trumpet that one particular elf insists upon playing.

Callen shoves his hands further into his pockets, muttering. How could North tolerate this place? Must be all the cookies and hot chocolate.

There are thoughts and Friends bombarding his mind, and he sends a few off just to make the dull throbbing ease a bit. Unicorn, some sort of pixie thing, and a small baby penguin shoot off to their designated kids, and he sighs in relief as the constant nudging decreases into something more tolerable.

North's workshop looms before him. The buildings practically glow, the lights illuminating the ice covering them. It's a source warmth in a land covered in snow and ice.

One of the yetis is waiting for him near the entrance. He waves at Callen, who manages to make one side of his mouth quirk up.

"Hey there, Phil. Wanna let me in? I'm frozen solid." To make a point, he shivers a bit.

The yeti nods, but before he can reach the handle the doors burst open and Callen suddenly has his arms full of brightly colored feathers.

"Oof!" He's propelled backwards as Tooth tackles him in a hug.

"Callen! You're here!" The half-human, half-hummingbird Guardian exclaims as her band of merry mini-fairies circled around them. Baby Tooth nudges his hand, hoping for some sort of attention.

"Hiya, Tooth." He chuckles. "Might gettin' off of me? Bit frozen here."

"Oh!" She flies up and all but forces him into the workshop. "Sorry! Forgot!"

"Hey, mate. Long time no see." Bunnymund appears right behind Tooth, or what would have been behind her if she stopped flitting about for a second or two.

Callen nods at him. "Nice to see ya, Bunnymund."

"I can't believe you're here!" Tooth's still flying around him. "Have you been brushing your teeth and –"

Callen waves a hand in dismissal. "Yes, Tooth. Sheesh, over a millennium and you still don' trust me to take care of my teeth." He looks at Bunnymund. "Why'd he call us?"

Tooth opens her mouth but Bunnymund shakes his head. "You'll find out when ya get there, mate."

"It's a surprise!" Tooth announces. Her minifairies chirp around her to show her excitement.

"Wouldn't call it that. More of a pain in the arse." Bunnymund mutters. Tooth elbows him in the ribs.

"Anyway, North's waitin' for us in the main chamber. We should go 'fore he sends the elves to get us." Bunnymund jerks his thumb in the general direction of the workshop.

Callen nods, and while they walk Tooth chatters about any subject she can think up. Translating to mainly teeth. Callen nods in faux understanding while trying to remember which ones were incisors and which ones were molars.

He can't help but feel a bit relieved when they approach the door to the main area of the workshop. Tooth darts inside immediately, and Bunnymund gestures for him to go first.

As many times as he's been here, on business or otherwise, the sheer size and splendor of the workshop never fails to impress him.

"Callen!" North booms, opening his arms wide as he walks over.

"You better have a damn good reason for keepin' me from my work, old man." Callen crosses his arms over his chest.

North claps him on the shoulder. "No worries, is good surprise!"

Callen sighs as he pulls his shoulder away from North's grip. He has a system to fix, children to please, and a Friend instinct that won't stop fucking interrupting his thoughts, and none of those things were going to handle themselves. And certainly not at the Pole.

"North, is this goin' to take a while because I really-" A sudden blaring note occurs somewhere around his feet, and he looks down to see an elf toting a trumpet parading about.

He glares at it. "Would you please shut up?"

The elf glares right back, and opens his mouth to blow into the instrument again. There's a small crack as ice suddenly encases the elf and his trumpet, and it falls against Callen's foot.

Ice. Frozen.

Callen sighs. Really, he should have expected the Russian to pull something like this.

"Ah, Jack! Callen, meet the surprise!" North announces.

Damn it.

He tries to smile. "Hey, Frostbite. Long time, no see."

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**Don't forget to review! I know it takes a bit of time, but it takes a heck of a lot more time to write this! You'll get a shoutout in the next chapter, and if you leave a really nice (thorough!) review, then I will dedicate the chapter to you :)**


	3. Been A Long Time

**So sorry for the long wait! *sweatdrop* My teachers seemed intent on assigning every possible thing they can before Thanksgiving break. Oh, here's a solo project combined with another group project and oh by the way you have a huge test on Friday! ... Really, teachers. Really?  
On the bright side, I think I finally figured out where I'm going with this! Finally putting my summer classes to good use! Still have some research to do, but if you guys have any suggestions/comments/things I should probably change about anything, do tell! Your comments are reflected in my writing, and fuel what I do.  
Special thank you's to NoNameX (love you, darling! 3) and especially to Jamborina and RenkinMaitai. You guys made me cry with your reviews, and many of my friends asked wtf was wrong with me because I was so happy. It's because of you that I keep writing, despite the sinking feeling I get in my stomach when I post things :) Oh, and a guest named Florence - thank you for the kind words, and writing tips!  
And to everyone else who reviewed - Zombie Flea, Yami-leira, azure blue espeon, TheLoveDov, Fireotaku18, S. Rune, Phenya, and Guest (really people, sign in so I can credit you properly!), THANK YOU SO MUCH! Cookies for you :3  
Hope you guys like it, and as always PLEASE REVIEW!  
I have a few one-shots written (that probably won't be published since they don't go anywhere), and whoever reviews will get an opportunity to read any one of them, if they wish to.  
Also - many of you asked to see my sketches of Callen. I'll see about it - maybe as a Christmas present? Answer the poll on my profile, and we'll see! :)  
Love to all, and please enjoy!**

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There's a heartbeat of silence before all hell breaks loose.

"Wait, you two know each other?" Bunnymund demands, raising one furry eyebrow while looking between the two. Tooth's also looking between them, her mini fairies chittering excitedly. Sandy makes a little question mark above his head – he must've come in with Jack.

Callen snorts, and turns to face Frost.

The winter spirit doesn't look any different than when he last saw him. Same frost-dusted blue hoodie, same torn brown pants. Same wild, silver hair and ice-blue eyes. Same fucking irritating smile, as well.

"Course we do. You froze my entire workshop, remember?" Callen asks, smirking despite the surge of anger that came with the memory. "You're t' blame for half of the Great Depression's depression."

His tone is slightly joking, but he narrows his eyes at Jack.

At that time, kids needed happiness more than ever, but he couldn't do – pardon the pun – jack shit about it, because nothing in his workshop worked. Any empty space had been replaced with ice, causing everything to just stop working.  
All of his backups, knowing which child had which friend _for sure_ (because with all the children and Friends, he was never really sure of anything any more), were gone.

And considering the ice refused to melt, he'd had to chip it all off. That cut out a huge chunk of his time. It had taken a good two or three months of hard chipping to get it all off. Even then, it didn't work properly.

He had had to play it by what he remembered, blindly sending what he hoped was the right friend to the right child, all while attempting to fix the system. His mind had been bombarded, making thinking difficult and thinking _correctly _even harder. Frost's little stunt set him back decades.  
And now the bastard is standing there, leaning against that stupid toothpick he calls a staff with one corner of his mouth quirked up ever so slightly.

Jack shrugs. "Well, I didn't break it, did I?" He asks.

"You might as well have!" Callen hisses, glaring at the winter spirit. "My headache didn't go away for years!"  
"He pissed ya off too, at some point?" Bunnymind asks.

"What can I say?" Jack asks, leaning against his staff. "I leave a lasting impression." He levitates a little higher, a childish display of brushing off Callen's words.

Callen grabs a hold of the staff and pulls Jack back down to eye-level. "Yeah, and all of those depressed children say so too. Snow didn't getcha outta that one, did it, Frostbite?"

The two boys glare at each other, before North puts his hands in between them and pushes them apart. "Jack, Callen, please. Is not good to fight. What is done is done. I need help from both of you, and cooperation. Is that understood?" His Russian accent became steadily thicker as he accentuated each word, and looks between the two of them.

Callen hesitates, but lets go of Jack's staff, causing the winter spirit to falter in the air slightly from the sudden release. "I'll take the high road on this one." He declares.

Jack lowers himself back to a reasonable height, but his toes still hang off the ground. "Same, I guess."

North nods. He puts his hands on his hips and looks at both of them. "Good. Now, Callen, as you may know, Jack is now Guardian – "

"Pardon?" Embarrassingly, his voice shoots up a good octave. The rest of the Guardians look at him questioningly. "Ya made Frostbite a Guardian?"He thrusts a hand in Jack's direction. "What compelled ya to do that?"

"Hey!" Jack glares openly at him.

"I thought the same thing, mate, when MiM picked him. Then he proved himself." Bunny interjects.

Callen ignores him, instead choosing to glare at North. "And why wasn't I here for that? Or that fight between Pitch you've all avoided tellin' me about?"

They're all silent. Frost just looks confused, glancing between the others.

"Yeah, I know about that." Callen announces. 'The reason for the sudden demand 'n Friends wasn' too hard t' figure out."

Tooth appears at his side. "You were busy, and-"

"And I didn't have time t' help ya save the world from darkness?" Callen snaps. Then he sighs, and rubs his temples to help prevent the major headache they were causing him on top of the one he already had. "Ya know what, tell me later. But you are tellin' me, got it?"

"We didn't want last time to happen again." Tooth says quickly and quietly, before Callen puts a hand up to silence her.

"Later. Tell me about now. Battle ain't over yet, is it?" He asks, looking at them expectantly.

Bunnymund nods. "Pitch's layin' low. Few Fearlin's, few nightmares, but nothin' too bad so far. It's what he's doin' besides that that's got us nervous."

"We think he's been experimenting with magic." North declares.

Callen blanches. "Magic?"

He remembers last time Pitch tried to mess with magic.  
Kidnapped kids,scared parents.

Nightlight.

How they were so close, so very close, to losing everything.

It was a nightmare.

He shudders slightly at what the Nightmare King could possibly do in this day in age, everything he could use to his advantage.

"What kind o' magic?" He demands.

"That's what we're trying to figure out." Tooth says, "Jack says he saw him at Stonehenge."

Callen turns to Jack. "Was it actually Pitch or just a really dark rock?"

The white-haired boy rolls his eyes. "It was Pitch. I don't think rocks come in that shade of 'creepy'."

"What was he doin'?" Callen demands.

"Something with his hands? Waving them about, touching one rock then another. It was hard to get a good look."

"Think, Frostbite. It could tell us how far he's come."

"I don't know, okay? All I know is that it was Pitch, and he kept on touching the rocks, like there was some connection between them. Did you want me to fly down and ask 'Hey, Pitch, what are you doing'?" Jack snaps.

"That would have been very helpful, yes."

"Are you freaking serio-"

"Boys." North scolds. "Thank you, Jack. Callen, you know what he was doing?"

Callen nods. "A general idea, yeah. Old Celtic magic. You were right for callin' me. Know some, not all. But I think your library's got a few books on it, 'f I can recall correctly."

North gestures in the general direction of the library. "Go ahead."

"Thank ye," Callen sighs. "He's messin' with complicated stuff 'ere."

"How complicated we talkin' about, mate?" Bunnymund asks.

"Let's put it this way. The Indians knew their stuff, and the Vikin's aren't t' be taken lightly either. But if Pitch decided t' go with Celtic, then he's goin' all out. You guys must've pissed him off, big time." Callen declares.

They all glance at each other.

"If he can get some of the other creatures on his side, or make nightmares in their forms, then we're in deep shit." Callen says flatly.

Sandy produces another question mark about his head, along with a little series of sand-images of the Guardians.

"I don't know what we have t' do. I'm gonna check the library, try t' get as much as I can. Keep goin' as normal, I guess. If Pitch doesn' know we know, then that might delay attacks." Callen explains.

North nods. "Protect the children. Sandy, block nightmares. Be on guard."

There's a murmuring of agreement from everyone.

Tooth and Bunnymund depart to their respected jobs soon after, Tooth claiming a kid got knocked in the mouth somewhere in New Jersey and Bunnymund not wanting to leave the eggs for too long.

North leaves to go help the elves make cookies (because really, who would trust them with an oven?). Jack goes with them, most likely to steal cookie dough, after shooting Callen one last look.

Callen is about to go off to the library when a small tug on his shirt halts him.

He turns to see Sandy staring at him, with something close to worry on his face. He creates an image of Nightlight, and then it crumbles only to be replaced with Jack. The image of Jack collapses, before dissolving into dust again.

Callen sighs. "Maybe, Sandy. Last time was – " He stops. "We don't want a repeat of the last time. I don't think we could pull through again."

Sandy nods, and produces an image of a book, the pages turning rapidly. Then him, and Callen, and a question mark.

Despite himself, Callen smiles. "Help would be appreciated, mate. Thanks. Lots o' books. An' not a lot of time."

Sandy smiles and nods, resulting in a chiming sounds, before following Callen off to North's library.

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**And there we have it - the plot thickens! (I think?)  
Also, if you are confused about who Nightlight is, then you should read the books. They're not long, and are actually surprisingly good. While this story isn't dependent on the books, I will be making references, and although they will be explained, it may be a good idea to read them. You will be glad you did!  
Please review! Favorites and follows are wonderful as well, but reviews really make me happy and urge me to write faster. Next chapter will be up within a few days (promise the wait won't be as long!)**


	4. Goin' Courtin'

**Told you guys I would upload sooner! :P  
Anyways, before I proceed, I just want to let my dedicated readers who have been with me since the beginning that there have been a few changes in the previous chapters. Mostly on how Callen does his Friend magic. If you wish to take a gander, the most obvious changes are in the Prologue, with slight changes in the other chapters.  
These changes are on account that MY USUAL BETA HAS SEEN THE LIGHT! She saw the movie, and is now as obsessed as I am (thank the gods, now I have someone else to fangirl to) At her suggestion, I have made these changes. I've also decided to become a beta for ROTG fanfics - if you want me to be your beta, just PM me and we can chat :)  
This chapter is dedicated to Jamborina, RenkinMaitai, Frostimagination (nice name 3), NoNameX, Fireotaku18, Florence, and S. Rune. Thank you for your support! I LOVE YOU GUYS! *hugs*  
And other reviewers - sleepingsnowwhite, morningowl, azure blue espeon, BlackRain-BlackBlood, SoulMore, Yami-leira, JackFrostxTooth; THANK YOU SO MUCH! :)  
Many of you have been asking who Nightlight is - after much poking about on the Internet, I realized there isn't anything out there. Don't worry, it will all be explained (Jack has to find out too, you know) so don't fret about it now.  
As always - reviews make me happy, and make me upload faster, and bring better, longer writing. So please review! I'm talking to you people who favorite and follow but don't say WHY.  
Hope you guys like, and I'll see you soon!  
**

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"I swear if I have to look at one more page of writing, I'm going to explode," Callen moans as he collapses back into the pile of books sprawled out on the desk.

A small golden bubble emerges from the pile of books next to him. When it pops, a discordant chime fills the room.

"Find anything?" Callen asks, looking up from the writing to send another Friend out. Between doing his job as the Guardian of Imagination and reading, his skull feels like an angry yeti punched it in.

Sandy pokes his head out from the pile of books, sending a "History of Elves" flying somewhere. He shakes his head, before shrugging.

Callen sighs. "There's nothin' here. What the hell is Pitch doin'?"

Sandy seems to glow a little brighter, and an image of a cookie appears above his head.

Callen raises an eyebrow. "Pitch's makin' cookies?"

Sandy shakes his head furiously, and points to the door.

The Irish boy looks and sees Jack standing in the doorway, plate of cookies and eggnog in his hands and eyes looking about the room in obvious amusement.

Sandy flies over and takes a mug and a cookie, producing a thumbs up above his head.

Jack doesn't seem to notice. "Are you actually reading or just destroying North's library?" He asks, smirking as he takes in the piles of books surrounding Callen.

Callen huffs, sending a piece of brown hair back from in his face to on top of his head before flicking a hand out to send a pony to a little girl somewhere in England. "Get out, Frostbite. We were doin' just fine without you."

"I was told to bring you cookies, and help you research. North's orders."

Callen selected a few choice words to describe the round-bellied man, while Jack waited patiently for the stream of curse words to end.

Callen sighs. "Please tell me that the eggnog has a wee bit more than egg in there. I need a booze content of at least 30%, at this point." He takes the eggnog and takes a swig, humming contently.  
Jack watches warily. "Well, I hardly measured, but I think it'll be okay." He frowns, and puts the tray down. "What are you reading?"

"Nothin' you'll understand. I can barely understand it. My Gaelic is a bit rusty." He sends off more Friends, and smugly takes in the amazed face Jack has as he watches the Friends hurry away to their kids. Jack seems to realize what he's doing and looks down at the book open on the desk.

"What's this say?" Jack asks, pointing to a line of ancient text.

Callen squints. "Goat? I think? Either goat or silver."

"Yes, because they're so alike." Jack snorts. Callen glares at him.

"Either be helpful or leave, Frost. If you're goin' t' get in the way, then get out."

Jack holds his hands up. "North ordered me to help. I'm not leaving."

"Then grab a book an' start readin'."

Jack plucks a book from the pile and sits down in one of the plush chairs.

"Don't think that 'The Reproduction of All Creatures Ever Known' will help us much, Frost."  
He snorts as he watches Jack's eyes grow wide. "Are there pictures?!" The ice spirit asks, starting to flip through.  
"And diagrams." Callen adds.  
Jack puts the book down as if it's on fire. There's chiming from the other side of the room – Sandy is on his back, pointing and laughing at Jack's flushed cheeks.

"'Ere. Think this one's safe, and you can probably read it well enough." Callen passes a book to Jack.

Jack flips through absentmindedly. "How do we know if he's just after Celtic magic, and not magic in general?" He pauses at one page, them flips on. "Wouldn't he want to gain as much power as possible?"

There's silence in the room as Callen and Sandy exchange glances.

Callen smacks his forehead. "Of course! We're bloody idiots!" He grabs one of the elves that had been putting away the discarded books and holds it up by its hat. "Go get the others, now! It's urgent!"

The elf is dropped back to the floor and scuttles off, but not before grabbing a cookie from the tray.

Callen paces back and forth. "Pitch wants to become as powerful as possible. He's slowly buildin' up power from all of the ancient magic forms."

"How many are there?" Jack asks.

Callen shakes his head. "Too many. It would take 'im years t' get 'em all. He's probably choosin' either the simplest, or the most powerful."

"Which are?" Jack pushes, perching on his staff in midair.

Callen throws up his hands and whirs around. "I dunno! I'm not a wizard, I just know enough t' get by! Stop askin' questions, would ya?"

It's then that North, Tooth and Bunny arrive. "What is going on?" North demands.

Sandy produces images at rapid fire speed. North watches intently, until they fade away back into golden dust.

"I see. Callen, Jack, you add anything?" He asks.

Callen blinks, looking from Sandy back to North. "Sorry, bit dizzy. What wassat?"

"I think Sandy said Pitch is usin' all the magic he can. What types are you thinkin' of, mate?" Bunnymund asks.

The Irish boy shrugs. "Only Irish so far, judgin' by Stonehenge. Possibly Russian - that stuff packs a punch. Standard fairies, maybe, if 'e can get 'em on 'is side. Maybe djinn. There's a hell of a lot of information – could take 'im months to plan, dependin' on how much 'e knows already."

Sandy makes tendrils of sand and creates images of the Nightmares.

Bunnymund nods. "That's right, mate. He managed to copy Sandy's Dreamsand and use it for his nightmares. We know he's smart, then."

"I'm bettin' on the Unseelie Court. They'd be thrilled t' give him power." Callen says.

"Should we ask the leprechaun for that?"

"That little anklebiter's not gonna give us anythin'!"

"You wouldn't know – you never talk to him, you only piss him off."

"Hey!" Callen snaps, halting the discussion. Everyone looks at him. "If we can get t' the Unseelie Court in time and convince 'im that he's gonna turn against them, then we might be able to block off one source."

"What about the rest of the sources?"

"We'll cross that bridge when we come t' it. For now, we need to make preperations for visitin' the Unseelie Court."

"Uh, mate?" Bunnymund asks. "What exactly do we need to prepare for?"

Callen shrugs. "In case they're hostile."

"An' what's the chance of that?"

"Pretty high."

"Ah, lovely."

Tooth picks this moment to speak up. "If we visit them after Pitch sees them, then it'll be harder to convince them. But we might also get them to fight on our side. Oh, what do we do?!" She asks, spinning around in her spot. The mini fairies chatter nervously about.

Callen snorts. "The Unseelie Court? Fightin'? Fat chance, but it's worth a shot."

"What are we waiting for?" North asks. "To the sleigh!"

"Not the sleigh!" Bunnymund snaps, pointing a finger at the bearded man. "Tunnels!"

"Neither are gonna get us there." Callen says, while shaking his head. "Only one way there. Giant's Causeway. And we need a gift first, so that the Queen accepts us. Don't suppose you guys have any dark artifacts, do ya?"

They all look at each other questionably.

Callen sighs. "Well, that's problematic. Alrigh', first things first. Frostbite, Bunny and I will go t' Giants Causeway and see if it's been disturbed by Pitch. Thin' hasn't been touched in couple o' centuries, should be easy t' tell if he's been there. North, Tooth, Sandy, you try t find somethin' or make somethin' we can give t' the Queen. Think dark, creepy, and beautiful rolled int' one. We all good with that?"

They all nod collectively, and Callen's walking out with Bunnymund and Jack when he hears North mutter, "Creepy? I do not do creepy. Do you think the Queen would like a train?"

X  
**Another day, another chapter. Oh! And the poll on my profile for the Callen sketches should be fixed now. Forgot to turn the profile thing on. *facepalm*  
****REVIEW, PEOPLE! If you favorite, tell me why! Thank you!  
Love you all, and see you next time! 3 **


	5. Giant's Causeway

**Hey guys! Sheesh, it seems like every time I refresh the archive for ROTG twenty more stories have appeared! Felt like it was time to get this story back to the first page. Should have studied for my physics test, but meh.  
Special thanks to NoNameX, Jamborina, sushi4427, Hero of the Hazard, Yaoi-Beloved, Nyarghh, Silent Deathbringer, bookbelle.314, JackFrostxTooth, Kailyssia, RenkinMaitai, S. Rune, azure blue espeon, and Fireotaku18. You guys either left the longest/most thorough reviews, or you've been with me since the begining. I'm so thankful for your support, and hope I can continue to deliver! :)  
And thank you to new reviewers - EpicSmiley12, yvonna, Crazygrrl XD, SoulMore, Motaku1235, Storylover158, Guest, Secrettheshadow, SellTheeSoul4Bacon (awesome username winner!), and Karlina101. Thanks for your reviews, and Im glad you stumbled across this! **

**I'm not a huge fan of this chapter. I have no idea why, I'm just not as proud of it as I am my other chapters. Ah, well. Probably revise it later but for now I'll put it out.  
**

**Many of you have been asking about Callen's appearance - I know I've been letting out little by little, but with it being in his POV it's kind of hard to describe himself without it coming off as vain. The poll for the sketches is still on my profile, and by the results so far, it looks like I'll be posting them. *sweatdrop*  
Promise that a full description will be coming soon! **

**As always, please review! We're past 60 reviews, which is so amazing I actually cried. And almost 100 followers. **

**Wow guys, just. Wow. You have no idea how much this means to me. No idea at all. I've felt like Jack, flying through the sky since I published this story and I hope I don't plummet down to earth for a long while. **

**Hope you enjoy, and I'll see you next time :) **

**XXXXXXXXXX**

As soon as the door to the study closes, they all look at each other expectantly.

Bunny crosses his arms over his chest. "Think my tunnels would be faster, mate." He taps his foot, and a small one appears to the side.

Jack snorts as he peers down the hole. An elf walking by with Christmas lights narrowly misses tumbling into the tunnel. "That's what you said last time."

The 6 foot 1 rabbit narrows his eyes at Jack. "If you're suggestin' the sleigh…"

Jack grins impishly. "I'll drive."

"No." Bunny snaps. "No, you will not. Last time you drove we crash landed."

Callen looks between the two of them. "Frostbite drove the sleigh?" He asks incredulously.

They both speak at the same time, resulting in a mash-up involving words like 'swords', 'North', 'Pitch', and 'teeth'.

Callen throws his hands up, and they stop talking. "Ya know what, never min'. Tunnels won' work there, neither will the sleigh."

Bunnymund and Jack blink at him. "Whatdaya mean, mate?" Bunnymund asks.

"Tunnels would be blocked 'cause of the magic barrier, an' sleigh won't be able to land. We'd have to walk for a good few miles if we took it, 'fore we come to the Causeway. Unless ya could land it on rocks without damagin' it."

"Then what do you suggest we do?" Bunnymund demands, one furry eyebrow raised.

Callen grins.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"No. No way. Nuh uh. I'm not getting' on that." Bunnymund backs up slowly. A few elves hide behind him, shaking and jingling as they do so.

Callen smirks and pats the dragon's neck affectionately as it snorts, smoke curling in the cold Arctic air. "Don't worry, she's perfectly safe. Made 'er for a kid, after all. Liked 'er so much, made another for myself."

"What sort of kid wishes for a b-bloody dragon?" Bunnymund demands, his voice shaking as the dragon looks at him and snorts again.

Callen shrugs, and watches as Jack walks right up to the flying reptile, petting her gray scaled snout.

The dragon nudges into the winter spirit's hands and he laughs. "I know a few kids who might." He says. "Jamie went through a dragon phase."

Bunnymund rolls his eyes. "Of course you know kids who want full grown dragons as bloody house pets. Could have a little rabbit or a cat, no they have to go with a dragon." He mutters.

Callen pats the seat behind him. "It's perfectly safe. I've done it dozens o' times."

"No." Bunnymund shakes his head. "No way am I flyin' from here to Ireland on a dragon."

"You're scared of a flying lizard." Jack quips, already seated behind Callen. "A Guardian. Scared of a lizard." He smirks.

Bunnymund opens his mouth, but yelps as the dragon's tail curls around his mid-section.

"Crikey!" He struggles as the dragon plops him onto her back into one of the seats, and he clenches onto the ridges in her back. He can feel her rumble underneath him, almost purring.

Jack holds up two leather straps. "Look, kangaroo. Seatbelts." He grins.

"You think seatbelts will make this any better?" Bunnymund snarls, but finds the straps on his own seat and pulls them as tight as possible.

Callen pulls on the reigns, and the dragon snorts. "That wasn' so bad, was it?" he asks.

Bunnymund mutters something under his breath, but doesn't speak up.

"Hold tight! Take off!" The Irish boy announces as he tugs the reigns a bit harder. The dragon flaps her wings, resulting in a few elves that were outside to be blown back a few feet. One shakes his fist at them, the bell on his hat jingling.

Bunnymund grips onto the saddle. "Wait, takeoff, wha-"

His voice is lost as they fly up into the air, changed into a yell as they soar higher and higher. Jack lets out a whoop, laughing as Bunny clenches on for dear life.

After a few seconds, they level out over the ocean. Bunny's shaking, while Jack is laughing at him and making snow out of the sea breeze at the same time.

Callen grins back at them, before focusing on steering. "Good job, girl." He commends the dragon. She rumbles her thanks, and flaps again, bringing them up higher.

"How long before we get there?" Jack calls over the wind. It's hard to hear him, even if the white-haired boy is almost directly behind him.

Callen looks down at the scenery below. It's becoming less ocean and more land. "How's a minute or two sound?"

Jack grins. "Awesome." He transfers his attention to the clouds, looking as if they're threatening to spill rain drops on the Guardians. "Is this how you travel?"

Callen shrugs. "Whatever I'm 'n the mood for, t' be honest. But Pretty's my favorite." He pats the dragon's neck, and she snorts.

"You named the dragon Pretty?" Jack smirks.

"Her kid did – I didn't feel like changin' it after she's used t' it." Callen explains, looking back down at the countryside. It looks familiar now. "Prepare for descendin'."

Bunnymund looks up from where he'd been steadily studying Jack's back for the past few minutes to prevent from losing his carrots. "Wait, what?"

Callen yanks on the reigns, pulls his feet down in the holders, and the dragon goes down into a nosedive.

The wind gets harsher as they go faster, green plains and trees steadily becoming bigger and more in focus as they get closer to the ground at an alarming rate.

Callen yanks the reigns again, and veers to the right, revealing the coast of the North Channel, lined with rocks and cliffs.

They slow a bit as they get closer to the ground, and soon Pretty's feet are on the Irish land. She stomps the green grass, and sneezes at the change in temperature, resulting in a few sparks flying.

Bunny jumps off immediately, loosing his balance and falling face first into the ground. "Never again, mate." He snaps as he sits up. "Never again."

Jack floats above him, grinning. "They make medicine for this, kangaroo."

Callen dismounts, and pats Pretty's snout before waving his hand and dissolving the saddle and reigns. She lumbers off to the rocks, and curls up by one of the cliffs. "Don' think they make meds for six foot tall rabbits."

Bunny stands, brushing his fur off to dispel any grass. "Hmph. Where we goin', mate?"

Callen looks around, and points to the left.

In that same moment, a new Friend nudges at the back of his mind and the image appears at the front of his mind. "Purple rhino." He blurts, before screwing his freckled nose up slightly in confusion.

Both Bunny and Jack blink at him.

"Are you okay?" Jack asks slowly, looking at him warily.

Callen flushes bright red. With a wave of his hand, he creates the Friend that had appeared in his mind just a few seconds before. The miniature rhino stomps before it goes off to its kid. "Yeah, sorry. Backup." He taps his temple. "Too many kids, ya know? Get confused sometimes. Um, where is it?" He looks around, scanning the countryside and the cliffs. "Should be to the left, I think."

Bunny hops in the direction Callen pointed. "Well, what are we waitin' for?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXX

He remembers the last time he was here, almost a full millennium ago. The rocks are a bit more worn now, from the water lapping over them. There's evidence of tourists – footprints, and cracks in the rocks where people have stepped.

The towering, geometrical rocks never cease to amaze him. Interlocking, looking like some giant castle, grand and intimidating. Due to legend or scientific reasons, he can never remember. They were there before him, and that's a strange thought.

He's used to watching things pass by, children grow out of their Friends and eventually he has to create new ones. The old ones stay in his mind, and in his database, but they're buried deep beneath the new Friends of superheroes and pop stars.

He takes a minute to look out over the sea, hands in his jeans pockets, and sighs before a loud crack disturbs him.

"Ack!"

Bunny slips on the patch of ice that formed on the rocks he had jumped on, and lands back on his tail. He glares at Jack, who's floating above him and holding his stomach, laughing. "Yeah, yeah, very funny."

Callen smirks, sliding down from the tall rock pillar and hopping to another rock with practiced movements. "It was; the first three times 'e did it." He leaps to another hexagonal pillar.

Jack laughs as Bunny tries to right himself and slips again. "Oh, come on! Don't tell me he didn't set himself up for this." The winter spirit asks, reclining and floating backwards, before freezing the tops of some of the waves. They crash to the shore, shattering dramatically.

Bunny grumbles and manages to stand this time, leaping across a couple more rock structures. He avoids the patch of ice Jack had set earlier. "That was the last time, mate."

Jack snorts. "That's what you say."

Callen tunes out the sound of their bickering as he rounds another huge pillar into a little alcove almost hidden from view. It's sheltered from the cold wind, and looks almost untouched. He looks down, and taps his foot against one of the stones by his foot. The Gaelic script has been all but worn away from erosion and time, but he can still see the slightly glowing letters. "Hey, guys. I think this is it." He leans down to inspect the script. It's barely even legible any more.

Bunny's beside him in a second, and Jack's floating on his left. "It's... a rock." Jack observes. "Just like all the other rocks."

Callen resists the urge to roll his eyes. "It's a magic rock."

"Oh, yes, a magic rock. Because that makes much more sense than a normal rock." Jack deadpans.

Callen straightens, glaring at Jack. "I'll show ya."

It's been a while since he's done this, Callen thinks. A long while. He taps the stone with his foot, lightly, and grins when he sees the script glow a bit brighter.

"Might want to step back." He warns, before stomping his foot against the stone as hard as he can.

The stone shakes before sinking down a few inches. He falls back into Jack as the stones underneath his feet rumble violently.

Pillars shift and sink back into the ground, dust and dirt flying as it's disturbed. The three Guardians watch as a small doorway is revealed behind a few of the pillars, the pillars sinking to create a staircase up to the entrance.

Callen blinks. "Huh. That's new. Was significantly more subtle last time I was here."

Jack flies forward to peer into the darkness. "We supposed to go in?" He asks, looking back at Callen.

"We need an escort." Callen explains as he steps up. "Should be comin' any time now."

Bunnymund looks at him, questioning. "Escort?"

Callen nods. "Didn't think we could just waltz into the Unseelie Court, did you?"

Bunnymund shrugs, but crosses his arms over his chest and pulls out one of his eggs to paint.

It's a few seconds before a figure emerges from the darkness of the entrance. Tall, muscular, and masculine.

"The valiant knight has returned. How long has it been? A few millennia, give or take?"

Callen stares at the shadows. "Gabriel. Didn't think the queen would send ya this time around. Been denoted back down to 'escort'?" He asks.

A fae steps from the alcove. He's seen quite a few fae in his time, and the sheer other-wordly beauty never ceases to amaze him.

The fae, with his angular face, full lips and ink black hair, smirks at him, revealing just the slightest hint of sharpened teeth. "Her majesty always sends me, because I'm her favorite." The armor he wears glints in the sun, shining like silver. He's decorated with gems and jewelry, the metal of his armour twisting into vines around his biceps and shoulders. "We've missed you, Callen. Why do you never visit?" He asks, tone playful and slightly taunting.

Callen feels Bunny at his back. "Who's this show pony?" Bunny demands, feeling for his boomerangs. Callen reaches a hand back and stops him before the weapons could be taken out.

The fae looks surprised. "You have company. The Guardian of Hope." He glances at Jack, and smiles. "Hello, there."

Callen rolls his eyes. "I'm a Guardian, Gabriel. Don' forget that. An' Frostbite's off limits." He can feel Jack glaring at him, but chooses to ignore it.

"Pity. Someone as tarnished as you getting someone so pure." The fae scoffs.

He ignores the painful throb in his chest. "Gabriel. Not now. Here on business." Callen snarls. "Have ya seen a tall, dark, really creepy man? Have ya let 'im through?"

Gabriel cocks his head to the side. The sun glints off of his helmet. Jack shields his eyes from the glare. "Nobody has been through since some curious explorer a few decades ago, but we took care of him."

Callen winces at the thought of what they'd done to that 'curious explorer'. He'd seen some of their prisoners – it wasn't pretty. "Right, well. If you see anythin', alert me. Tell me if ya let anyone through, and especially if ya see him."

"I do not associate with the Guardians or any of their kind. I don't have to alert you of anything." Gabriel says harshly.

Callen glares at him.

The fae sighs, as if it was a great burden. "Fine. I will do as you ask. But don't expect me to prevent his entrance."

"Wasn' gonna ask ya to. Thank you. You've been a great help." Callen says, bowing.

He elbows Jack in the ribs, forcing him to do the same. Thankfully Bunny takes the cue and bows as well, his ears almost touching the rock they're standing on.

Gabriel nods, before melting back into the shadows.

They wait until there's no trace of him left.

"What was that all about, mate? Is that it? Not goin' inside?" Bunnymund asks as Callen turns on his heels and walks away from the entrance. It closes back up, the rocks sliding back into place with significantly less force than before.

"They ain't the kindest of folk, I'll tell ya that. Interacted with 'em a few times before. And there's no need t' go inside if Pitch hasn't been here. Gabriel's not the best of 'em, but 'e might tell us if 'e sees Pitch." Callen explains, before he realizes Jack isn't with them. "Frostbite?"

He turns to see Jack a few steps back, feet on the ground and holding his staff tightly.

"Frostbite, are ya an idiot? Get a move on." Callen orders, looking at him curiously.

Jack seems to ignore him, instead staring out across the rocks.

"Watch out, mate!" Bunnymund barks out.

Callen only has time to blink before he's barreled down, and he's face to face with a black horse. "What the f-"

The horse dissolves above him into black sand, the boomerang returning to Bunny's hand. His ears twitch back and forth rapidly, and he looks around them. "Nightmares. Pitch's here."

Callen props himself up on his elbows before getting to his feet and bracing himself for more attacks. "How many are there?"

His head whips around at the sound of something cracking, and he sees Jack freeze one of the creatures. It falls, leaving a black imprint on the rock.

"Two dozen, give or take." Bunnymund replies, throwing his boomerang again and knocking three of them out. Their neighs echo even after the sand's been blown away.

"Not too bad." Callen replies.

The sight of more coming over the cliffs makes him pause.

"All right, so four dozen." Bunny corrects himself.

"Little help here!" Jack yells as he freezes two more. One threatens to overcome him before it erupts into a sparkling shower, littering the ground around him with ice and black sand.

"Right!" Callen yells back.

He focuses on creating. No time for human fighters. No use could be made of the kids Friends, either. They weren't exactly made for combat.

He thinks of the image in front of him, making a few gestures.

Suits of armor materialize, empty and clanking against the surface of the rock. Seven of them, in all.

He hears Bunny whistle. "Crikey."

One of the suits thrusts its spear through the middle of a Nightmare, and the black sand dissolves. Another suit swings its sword through two.

He turns his head to see one of the Nightmares on the pillar above Jack as the winter spirit freezes another. "Frostbite, behind ya!"

Jack turns just in time to see Bunnymund's boomerang go through the one above him. "Thanks, cottontail!" He leaps to a higher ground to gain an advantage, balancing lightly on the edge of one pillar.

"Anytime, mate!" Bunnymund calls back.

A knight with a crossbow hits seven of the Nightmares. "They've stopped coming." Callen observes as he directs one of the knights to more Nightmares.

Bunnymund knocks out two more with an egg bomb. They explode into brightly colored dust piles. "Pitch's still weak. Must be takin' a lot of power just t' make these."

Jack's freezing them left and right, the Nightmares shattering into bits of ice and black sand. "How'd he know we were here?" He calls out as he narrowly avoids being mauled by one.

"It's Pitch, mate. He could be anywhere there's darkness." Bunnymund explains.

Callen moves his hand, and a knight mirrors the movement to thrust its sword through a Nightmare. It starts a chain reaction with all of those around it. "How many more?"

"Six. I've got 'em." Bunnymund says as he aims and throws his boomerang again. It dashes through the rest of the Nightmares before coming around and flying back into Bunny's hand with a resounding smack.

Callen feels his legs buckle slightly, but manages to stay standing. With a wave of his hand the empty suits of armor collapse noisily, then dissolve back into the air. He takes a deep breath, trying to keep himself from toppling over out of exhaustion.

Jack leaps from his position on the pillar to join Bunny and Callen. "If Pitch's back, and he's here, then that means that he'll try to get the Court to work with him." He explains, eyes scanning the rocks and the coast for any sign of more mares. Seemingly satisfied, he lets his feet touch the ground. His grip on the staff is still tight.

"Should we stop 'im?" Bunny asks.

"We could-" Callen gets out before he coughs "-wait. If we wait, we could switch 'em. Tell 'em that Pitch's plottin' t' take advantage of 'em."

Bunnymund nods. "That's not a bad idea, mate."

Callen blinks, noticing that his image of Bunnymund and Jack is getting steadily blurrier. "Thanks." He slurs slightly as his knees buckle and he falls forward, hitting something ice cold right before he passes out.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

**Please review, and I should have the next update up by Friday or Saturday! :) **

**If you would like help with your own ROTG story, I'd be more than happy to help. Just message me, and I'll see what I can do. **

**bye for now! *waves* **


	6. Present For You

**Holy crap on a cracker. Excuse me while I grin like a fuckin' idiot. *grins like an idiot*  
102 followers. 58 favorites. 80 reviews. And over 5,000 views. *lets out low whistle* I'm still in complete shock.  
I don't think you know how much this means to me. This was just a chance story - I had no plans for it, what so ever. And now it's being followed by over a hundred people, and has been viewed by 50 times that many people.  
I can't remember who the 100th follower was, but THANK YOU. All of you - no matter if you reviewed, followed, favorites, did all three, or just clicked on this story. I love you all, and you guys mean the world to me. I'm not going to go over everyone who reviewed in this A/N because I realized how tedious it was for me to write it and for you guys to read it XD If you want it I can put it back though.  
As a little treat, check the new cover photo. See how shiny and pretty and new it is? It also happens to be a sketch of Callen that a few of you have been asking for. Yes, I know, it's small, and it's a water color, not a sketch. But it wouldn't stop bugging me so I drew it last night and I think it came out pretty well, for my first ever profile view drawing. I need to find a place to put it. :/ If anybody has any suggestions, then shoot 'em at me.  
Thank you to anybody who reviewed - YOU ARE MY FAVORITES. I said I loved you all, not that I loved you all equally XD  
Seeing as everyone was busy tonight, this chapter has gone un-betaed/edited/viewed-by-someone-else-with-better-judgement-than-me. So I'm sorry if it's not up to par - wanted to keep up with my "update on Friday night/Saturday morning" tradition.  
Hope you guys like, and as always PLEASE REVIEW! It means so much to me, and will result in extra things later on like oneshots, art, and other little prizes.  
Enjoy! 3 **

"Robot?"

North holds up the ice prototype for a robot figurine, and places it down on the desk only to have it walk off and crash to the floor. It shatters, and he blinks at it. "Whoops."

"I don't think the queen would like a robot." Tooth exclaims, flying back and forth in North's office. Baby Tooth attempts to follow her movements before the mini fairy gets dizzy and instead finds a perch on top of Sandy's shoulder.

Sandy raises his hand, and produces an image of a book above his head.

Tooth frowns. "A book? Isn't that a bit boring?"

"Special book!" North declares, pointing at the bookshelf with his finger. His hand drops to his side a second later. "But I have no books that would be of use."

"Lateral incisor at 23 Rhose Court. Jewelry?" Tooth asks after sending another mini fairy on its way to pick up a little girl's tooth.

"Bah!" North exclaims quite loudly, scaring a few elves into choking on the cookies they had snuck into their mouths. "Too plain. She is queen! Must have many jewels." He plucks another toy from his desk. "Doll?"

"Oh, she's so pretty!" Tooth flits up and takes the ice doll from his hands, looking at it this way and that.

Sandy shakes his head viciously, resulting in a windchime-like sound echoing throughout the room.

"No doll, huh?" North mutters, pacing. "Wait. Wait wait wait wait wait. IDEA!"

"Oo!" Tooth flutters next to him, racing from his right side to his left. "What idea?"

"An airplane!" North cries, grabbing a figure from the shelf beside him and letting it fly. "But bigger! So that she can fit!"

Sandy facepalms. Tooth shakes her head.

"We don't know how big she is." She explains, expertly avoiding telling him that the idea was just plain foolish.

Sandy floats a little higher, a lightbulb appearing above his head.

Tooth notices and flies over. "Yes, Sandy? You have an idea?"

He nods furiously, before closing his eyes. A series of chimes goes throughout the room.

"Oh!" Tooth gasps as the chimes continue in a tune. Even the elves stop what they're doing (eating North's cookies) to listen.

It's beautiful and haunting, and Tooth feels her feathers ruffle from the goosebumps it causes.

Once the tune is finished, Sandy grins at them and produces a box above his head.

"Yes! Yes, yes, yes!" Tooth squeals. "A music box, perfect! North, you make the mechanism and the box. Sandy, you do the music, while I find things to decorate it!"

North starts reaching for his tools and a new block of ice. "This is going to be LEGEND-ARY!"

X_X_X_X_X_X

"How's it coming, guys?" Tooth asks as she flies in through the window. "Ah!"

North had turned around, a pair of magnifiers making his eyes much bigger than they already were. Sandy was beside him, and gave her two thumbs up.

"Can I see?" She peers around the desk, only to have North cover his work with his arms.

"No! Not finished yet!" North exclaims before going back to hammering and welding the small mechanism.

Tooth looks at Sandy, who shrugs.

She deposits the things she brought on the desk. "I had Baby Tooth gather up a bit of the spare materials that we use for the tooth boxes." She says, immediately starting to sort the pile by material.

Sandy pats Baby Tooth on the head – Baby Tooth chirps her thanks before flying to help Tooth.

"Is finished!" North booms. The volume makes a few of the elves topple from the desk, resulting in loud clangs from their bells.

Tooth hovers over his shoulder. "I want to see!"

He holds up an ice rose, dusted with dreamsand.

Tooth flies around to look at it from all angles. "I thought you were making a musicbox?" She asks.

"Ah, but I did. Take it." He holds it out and she grasps it by the stem.

Almost immediately one of the petals starts to fall and the tune Sandy had chimed starts to play. Petal by petal the rose opens, revealing the music box mechanism, no bigger than her thumbnail. The tune tapers off as the last petal peels back.

"North." She breathes. "It's beautiful."

"Of course it is." North puffs out his chest. "I made it."

Tooth spins in her spot, watching as the flower closes again. "It's perfect! She's sure to – canine on 196 Rider Street New Hampshire – love it!"

North chuckles before taking it from her and putting it in a slim box. "We can hope."

BAM!

The door to the study slams open, pinning an unfortunate elf between the wall and the door as a yeti bursts through. "Yarghl! Arwerkl!" It exclaims.

North frowns. "Tunnel? Bunny? Are Jack and Callen with him?"

"Erckgl." The yeti nods.

"They're back!" Tooth exclaims, flying out to the main workshop. She narrowly misses a yeti carrying a tower of presents, and the yeti sighs in relief only to be knocked backwards as North barrels past. The presents spill across the hallway, and Sandy shoots the yeti an apologetic wave before follwing the others.

Tooth halts as soon as she sees them, her hands flying to her mouth. "Oh! What happened?" She flits to Bunny's side.

Callen's curled against his chest; Bunny holding him under his knees and shoulders.

"He's fine, just exhausted." Bunnymund explains as Tooth pushes Callen's bangs back from his forehead.

"Pitch's definitely up to something." Jack says as North and Sandy approach. "There were Nightmares at the Causeway."

"Nightmares?" North questions.

Sandy runs through a series of numbers before ending in a question mark.

"Four dozen or so." Bunnymund explains, adjusting his grip on the Irish boy. "Kiddo must've used his powers too much, and tuckered himself out. Can I put him somewhere? He ain't that light."

"He's waking up." Tooth says as Callen groans a bit. His eyes flutter open before closing again; this time clenched tightly shut.

"Too damn bright." He mutters getting chuckles from North and Bunny and a chime from Sandy.

"Welcome back, mate." Bunny says. "Gave us a right scare."

Callen winces as he attempts to focus on Tooth, who's directly above him. "What'd I miss?"

"Oh, not much. Carried you about two miles before we could open a tunnel and come back here. Not a big deal." Jack says sarcastically.

Tooth glares at him before looking back at Callen. "How long was he out?"

"Couldn't 've been more than fifteen minutes." Bunnymund replies.

He gently lowers Callen to the ground. The other Guardian stays steady for a few seconds before tilting sideways, and Tooth's there to support him. He leans on her as his legs slowly gain their normal strength.

"Kangaroo completely freaked out. Haven't seen him that worked up since Sophie got into the Warren." Jack explains, fly up to perch on his staff. He receives a glare from the 6 foot tall rabbit, and grins in response.

Callen blinks, wincing as he touches the back of his head. "Did I land on a rock or somethin'?" He asks, feeling for a bump.

"You landed on me." Jack answers. "But Bunny dropped you. Twice."

Tooth gasps. "Bunny!"

"Hey! He did it too!" Bunny points at Jack, who is suddenly very interested in his toes.

Tooth crosses her arms over her chest, while Callen shakes his head slightly.

"I 'aven't fought in decades. Took a hell of a lot o' power. Must've used too much and conked out." He says, fighting a blush and scratching the back of his neck, embarrassed.

Tooth immediately goes into mothering-mode. "Oh, it's okay, sweetie! As long as you're all right. Does anywhere else hurt?"

Callen nods. "Everything. Probably goin' t' have bruises, from bein' dropped."

Immediately he's embraced by the feathered Guardian. "Oh, you poor baby!"

He hugs her back. And then winks over her shoulder at Bunny and Jack.

Bunny's mouth falls open. "Now wait just a-"

Jack makes a face that's almost half frown, half pout. Sandy snorts and North has to keep himself from chuckling.

Tooth pulls away from Callen. "What did the court say?"

"Talked t' one o' the guards." He replies. "No Pitch, but judgin' from the Nightmares he's gonna visit 'em soon. Do ya have a gift?"

North produces the box, and places it in his hands. Callen flips open the lid and nods at the rose. "I think she'll accept it. No promises, but she loves bein's o' power. So we'll probably be welcome." He hands the box back, and North puts it into his coat pocket.

"So what now?" Jack asks, floating back down to the same level as everyone else and leaning on his staff.

"Now?" Callen asks. "Now we wait."


	7. Unseelie Court

**I'm seriously blown away by you guys. Over 100 followers and over 100 reviews. I'm speechless. I can't thank you guys enough. Views have skyrocketed (though they have been lowering as of late... need to figure out a way to fix that) and I spend so much of my day just going around grinning now.  
****I want to give a HUGE thank you to sushi4427; I've been working with her for about a week now (I think?), and I couldn't have done any of this without her. She has a story for Lady Luck that's absolutely BRILLIANT! While I'm not a huge fan of straight couples, I love this story - well written and great concept. Called Luck's Always To Blame - go check it out! ****  
And an EXTRA EXTRA SPECIAL THANK YOU TO sakus, who created a new fanart of Callen, which you can see on the cover! It's absolutely amazing and I cried when I saw it, no joke. Thank you, sakus! You're amazing! If anybody else wants to draw Callen, you're more than welcome to as long as you link the story wherever you're posting :)  
On a side note, I've started a little jar of little origami stars. Blue for reviews, pink for followers and yellow for favorites. If you do any of those things, your name will be written on a star and put in the jar. If you review five times, then your name will go in five times. I'll post pics of the jar as my account picture and when it's full, I'll do something special - whatever you guys want; you name it, it's yours, as a thank you :)  
**

**Edit: Uploaded the wrong document before! If you've read this before, please read it again because it has some changes and a new scene. Thank you!**

**Hope you guys enjoy this chapter - and don't forget to review! :)**

The library is silent. There would be the sound of flipping pages, if he hadn't been staring at the same page of text for the past several minutes. The text has become a blur of lines and symbols, creating a mesmerizing pattern of swirls and angles that makes his head spin.

He lets out a shaky breath and lays his head on the ancient pages.

"Thought you were supposed to be researching, not sleeping," a voice says from the doorway.

Callen groans as he lifts his head and rests his chin on the book.

Jack's leaning against the doorway, staff propped on his shoulder. "Go away, Frostbite. I'm busy."

"Doesn't look like it."

He glares at Jack. "Why do ya insist on interruptin' all my work?"

Jack shrugs. "Because it's fun." Of course – he was the Guardian of Fun, after all.

"It's also really fuckin' annoyin'." Callen snaps back. He doesn't mean to be snappish, really. But his head is killing him, plus the grin Jack's giving him makes his cheeks flush and blood boil.

"Frostbite, just leave." He resists the urge to say 'please' in favor of his pride. "I have to-"

The intrusion hits him like a boulder, and he grabs at his head. There's a feeling of something creeping into his mind, and suddenly he feels as if he's lost control of his thoughts, his words, his mind. It's a terrifying feeling.

A voice, not his own, echoes in his head. Guardian.

"Gabriel." It comes out as a snarl. Jack seems to jump at bit, and looks at him like he's gone insane.

I forgot you could do this. Callen thinks. Little warnin' next time.

I gave you warning enough. Gabriel says dryly. The being you spoke of has just had an audience with Her Highness.

And? He demands.

Our queen was eager to join his cause. Gabriel replies. We are at one with the dark.

Callen lets out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. Anythin' else?

He is with others.

The Irish boy's back straightens, and he can see Jack move out of the corner of his eye. Others? What others?

I do not know. But he had power that was not his own.

Callen nods, even though the fae cannot see him. I thank you, Gabriel.

Do not thank me, Guardian. He plots against you.

Don' I know it. Callen thinks back right before the connection between their minds cuts.

Immediately he feels relief, and freedom as the fae leaves his mind. Somehow he registers that he's breathing ridiculously heavily, and that there are nail marks in the desk from where he's clenched onto it.

Jack's standing with his staff at his side; he'd taken it off of his shoulder, and his fingers are now clenching the wood tightly. "What just happened?"

Callen stands up abruptly, almost knocking over the desk chair as he does so. "Gabriel said Pitch met the Queen." He closes the book and rushes past Jack. "Time t' go, Frost."

Jack flies behind him as he sprints through the halls of the Pole, trying to remember where exactly the others were. Callen, being on the ground, narrowly misses being beheaded by a yeti carrying a tray, and almost trips over an elf.

He spots a blur of turquoise, pink and blue fly by. "Tooth!" He manages to catch her by her wrist and pull her back.

"Hey!" She protests before looking down at who'd caught her. "Oh, Callen! Hi!"

He lets go of her wrist. "We need t' go. Now. Pitch talked t' her."

The smile on her face falls flat, and she looks at him with wide, pink eyes. "You mean-"

"Now, Tooth." He says firmly, rushing past her into the main area of the workshop.

One of the yetis seems to sense his urgency and points somewhere near the control panel of the globe. "Thanks, Paul." Callen mutters as he jogs past.

He spots rabbit ears above the crowd of yetis and elves, and then North's white hair a second later. "North! Bunnymund!"

The two Guardians turn from the control panel to look at him curiously. "Crikey, mate, you look like ya just ran a marathon." Bunnymund exclaims.

"Pitch talked with the Queen." Callen manages to get out. He hears the flutter of wings behind him as Tooth and Jack arrive. "We need t' get t' the Causeway before 'e can use the power."

Immediately, everyone speaks at once. Or rather, North and Bunnymund do.

"Sleigh!"

"Tunnels!"

They turn to look at each other.

Callen waves his hand dismissively. "Sleigh can't land, tunnels can't get close enough. North – slow globe? Won' get us directly to it, but it'll be better than the others."

"Why didn't you think of that before? Would've liked a portal better than a bloody dragon." Bunnymund mutters as North extends a snow globe to Callen.

The glass feels fragile beneath his fingertips, and as he says "Giant's Causeway", the rocks and waves appear in the small globe.

"Because this isn' nearly as fun." He replies with a wry grin as the globe tumbles from his fingers and opens the magic portal.

The feeling of travelling through a portal is one much like a rollercoaster – if a rollercoaster got you places within a few seconds and dumped you out wherever you wanted to go. The swooping sensation in his stomach is both thrilling and terrifying, and he tumbles out head first onto the grass.

The sky is already darker than it was a few hours earlier – cloudy and storming.

He's about to right himself just as something heavy falls onto his back, and the wind is knocked out of him.

There's an apologetic chime as Sandy gets off of him. "Yeah, fine, no harm done." Callen announces, his voice strained a bit as he picks himself off of the ground and brushes himself off, his white t-shirt already stained from the grass and dirt.

"Where is this Causeway?" North asks.

Callen points out a gathering of rocks in the distance, close enough that he can see the entrance. "There."

X_X_X_X_X_X

It doesn't take too long to get there – North's fitter than he seems, and with a half of them flying, one of them hopping and the other two running they reach the causeway just as the skies open up.

"Aw, come on, really?" Bunny asks as he opens his palms to the sky and catches a few raindrops.

Callen carefully climbs to the location of the entrance, trying not to slip on the now slick rocks. "We won't be outside for long."

He can feel the others at his back as he stomps on the rock for the second time that day. The engraving's light seems to have dulled from the use.

The revealing of the entrance isn't nearly as dramatic as before, given that it had been disturbed at least once since he'd come with Jack and Bunny, but he takes a bit of pleasure in the sharp inhales from Tooth and North.

This time, instead of waiting for an escort to come, he ducks inside the alcove.

"Come on. Watch yer step." He waves a hand forward. North has to bend almost completely over in order to get in the entrance.

"Guardians."

Callen glances about the alcove as the rest of the Guardians squeeze in. "Gabriel."

"You should not have come." The fae declares as he walks forward – this time he has a spear, made out of metal and wood with engraved silver vines. He glares at them. "We are preparing for war, against your kind. It is not safe."

"But you've been expectin' us." Callen observes. "You knew we were comin', and prepared t' meet us. I'm not an idiot, Gabriel."

Gabriel's glare focuses on him. "You are not known in the Court for your brilliance, Lochlainn."

Callen stiffens, but returns the glare. "I thought I told ya never t' call me that again. And you're not the brightest fairy either, Gabriel."

"Hold your tongue before I remove it." The fae snarls, his grip on the spear tightening.

Callen tilts his chin up. "Take us t' the Queen, 'n order o' the Guardians."

"Your beloved moon has no power over our Court."

"No, but I do."

"Not any more. Your queen is dead and gone, Guardian. Narissa might have favored you, but our new queen is as forgiving."

"And yet her influence remains. Iridia likes me just as well as Narissa did. Take. Us. Through." Callen says through gritted teeth.

The fae seems to crack, the slightest little fracture in his façade. "Very well. But she will not be pleased."

"When is she ever?" Callen asks, following the fae through the carved tunnel.

"Your tongue will be your downfall."

"Tell me somethin' I don' know."

He waves for the other Guardians to follow him. Tooth stays almost directly behind him, while Jack remains at his side. Sandy's light illuminates the darkened tunnels.

"What is this place?" Tooth breathes, gazing at the rock and crystal walls that shine in the golden light Sandy gives off.

"The entranceway." Callen replies, ducking to avoid a particularly low crystal. "Don' touch anything, don' take anything, and above all don' taste anything."

There's a murmuring of agreement behind him, and he pitches forward as he steps down into an underground cave.

"This is it?" Jack asks as he gazes about the small cavern.

"We have t' go through there." Callen points to a pool of water off to the side of the room.

Jack looks at it warily. "Through there?"

Gabriel is already at the bank of the pool, and steps into the water. He walks forward, slowly, gracefully, and goes beneath the surface without so much of a bubble left behind.

"Through there." Callen confirms.

He takes the lead, this time followed by Bunny and North. "Ya sure this is safe, mate?" Bunny asks.

"Not really, no." He admits.

"Thanks for the honesty."

"No problem."

He walks to the bank of the pool, and steps into the water. The bottom of his jeans is soaked in seconds, and when he's waist-deep he looks back at the Guardians. "Just take a deep breath, walk under, and when the pressure's gone, open your eyes an' breathe." He explains.

Without waiting for a response, he takes a deep breath and goes under.

The water's freezing, and he continues walking along the bottom, eyes clenched shut and lungs burning. Then there's a breeze, the water is gone, and he's standing in another cavern's pool, shivering slightly in his soaking wet clothes.

Gabriel's waiting at the edge, completely dry and watching him in amusement.

Callen hugs himself as he walks to the edge of the bank and turns.

There's a small splash as Jack's head emerges, and he coughs up a significant amount of water. He flails slightly, and Callen moves back into the water to grab a hold of his arm.

Jack's sputtering, and flails as Callen pulls him back to the bank. He collapses on the edge and coughs up more water. He's paler than normal, and shaking like a leaf in the wind.

Callen watches, wanting to do something but not sure what so he settles with asking, "You okay there, Frostbite?"

There's no snarky response, instead a shuddery breath and a small, "Yeah, fine."

They both look as there's another splash from the pool and Bunny comes out of the water. His ears are plastered to his head, and his fur is sopping. He shakes himself like a dog, but yelps as he falls back into the water as North comes up beneath him.

"Whimsy corsiko!" North exclaims as he chuckles, standing and striding out of the water. He spots Bunny who's spitting out water. "Are you all right, old friend?"

Bunnymund glares at him before shaking again, spraying water all over the bearded man.

Tooth and Sandy emerge last. Tooth's shivering, her arms wrapped around herself and her wings drooping slightly. Sandy pats her on the back as he comes up, and she lets out a small sneeze.

"Are you quite finished?" Gabriel asks from his position near an archway leading into another room.

Callen glares at him, but pulls Jack to his feet. The ice spirit stopped coughing a while ago, and is now just shivering, clutching onto his staff.

"Come along." Gabriel says, his tone softening once he looks at Jack. Callen's glare intensifies.

The room the archway led them to looks like a dried out, dead forest, the tree tops extending far beyond what they can see. There's music coming from amidst the trees, and soft whispers and thuds.

Gabriel weaves through the trees, Callen close behind. The music grows steadily louder and the sound of feet against dry grass becomes more apparent as they go deeper.

He stops suddenly as Tooth latches onto his shoulder with a sharp gasp. "Look!"

The Guardians stop at her words, and her whimpers as she points to the source of the swishing sound and the thud of feet.

A dancing circle. There's the creak of bones as almost corpses, some old and dressed in medieval finery while others are dressed in more modern attire dance amidst fairies, who look young and youthful. The fae laugh and play, their unwrinkled hands locking with skeletal fingers, the skin rotting away. There are more than a few sets of armour, the helmet put aside to reveal the sunken skin of what was once a noble knight.

Callen feels Tooth's face pressed into his shoulder. "Mortals deceived by the fae. Don't look." He says sternly. "They're alive by magic, nothin' more."

He hurries them past to where Gabriel is waiting by a clearing.

Gabriel holds up a hand to halt them before peering into the clearing. "My lady, I have brought guests."

"Gabriel, I told you-" A feminine voice says, then pauses. "The Guardians."

"Yes, my lady."

"What business do they have with us?" Her tone is sharp now, sharp as the crystals in the first cavern.

"I know not, but Lochlainn has joined them."

There's a rustling of skirts and silk, before a silky voice speaks.

"Welcome, Guardians."

**That's all for now! Hope you liked it! :) **


	8. The Queen

***facepalm* Well, I'm an idiot. Uploaded the wrong document as the previous chapter. Sorry about that! I uploaded the un-edited version that was on my school computer, rather than the edited one I had on my Mac. Hopefully this chapter, and the edited chapter will clear a few things up. If you've read the previous chapter before it was edited, please go read again. It has more info and a different scene. **

**As for people asking what Callen's connection to the fae is - ALL WILL BE REVEALED. Chill, people. If I revealed everything at once, that wouldn't fun, now, would it? It would be pulling a Twilight and I know I don't want that (not sure about you guys). Don't worry, I'll tell you all in good time. For now just be patient and don't take your anger out on me, please. **

**A****nd if you guys are confused about the name Lochlainn - it's Callen's last name. Just like Bunnymund's is... Bunnymund, North's is, er, North, and Jack's is Frost. **

**I'm currently sick, so expect a wave of one shots and chapters. Stupid boyfriend giving me stupid bronchitis. **

**Hope you enjoy, and if you have any questions feel free to PM me! Special thanks to Hero of the Hazard who wrote a review so long it cut off. Thank you, love! ^_^ That made my entire day! **

The Queen is surrounded by attendants – faeries of all sizes, verging from the size of Baby Tooth to Tooth. Callen shudders as some of them look in his direction, sending razor-toothed smiles at him.

He bows low, sweeping his arm across his torso as he falls to one knee. "Your Highness." He attempts to cover his accent as much as possible, in case it offends her.

He hears a bit of rustling behind him, and out of the corner of his eye he can see Jack kneeling next to him.

"Stand, Lochlainn, and Guardians." The queen orders.

Callen stands and looks at the Queen for the first time.

In a word, she's stunning. She has blonde hair, pulled back in an intricate knot at the back of her hair with her metal-leaved crown arranged artfully into the updo. Her gown looks like a pool of silver, held up by a bejeweled collar around her delicate neck. Her eyes, red as blood, look at each of them in turn, lingering a bit more on Jack and Callen.

She stands. "You are fools to come into my court." She says coldly.

Callen steps forward, putting himself in between the Queen and the rest of the Guardians. "Please, my lady. We had hoped that you would decline Pitch's offer. We'd heard that you were as wise as you were beautiful, and in that case, well-" Callen throws a small smile in, "then your wisdom must be very vast."He keeps his tone light, airy, and careful.

The Queen smirks, then lets out a small laugh that's both beautiful and chilling. "You have not changed, Lochlainn. Charming as ever." She looks to the Guardians. "The legendary Guardians. What an honor it is to have beings of such power in my court. Pity that you shall fall."

Callen feels a sour taste fill his mouth, and he swallows it back down to his nervous stomach. "My lady, we have come in hope to change your mind about siding with Pitch Black." He announces. "He plots to turn the world into one of darkness."

Her gaze is stone cold. "My mind has been made up."

"Pitch's a no-good trickster." Bunnymund announces, hopping forward and bowing again before looking down at her. "You can't trust him with anything." He says harshly.

The Queen looks at him curiously. "A Pooka, as a Guardian…" She trails off before smiling softly. "What an interesting band of outcasts, you are. Your man in the moon is a very peculiar being."

Bunnymund's ears fall ever so slightly, and he backs to where the rest of them stand, knowing that she is no longer interested in hearing him. Tooth puts a hand on his shoulder comfortingly, even as his paw stays beside his boomerang. Callen can see the tension in his shoulders and the way that his ears flick back and forth.

"Pitch will turn against you, my lady." Callen tries. "He lies as easily as he breathes."

The queen frowns. "He has promised me power. Knowledge."

"He lied." North replies.

"His words rang of truth."

"He likes to deceive you." Jack exclaims, his voice steady and even as he stares the fae down.

The Queen looks at him, surprised at his audacity. "And you have experienced this?"

Callen notices Jack tensing, and his grip on his staff tightens. "Yes."

The Queen hums slightly as she looks him up and down. Jack shifts uncomfortably, and Callen steps forward. The Queen's head snaps around to look at him so quickly he can almost hear the crack of the whiplash.

"He has promised, but he has not given. We, on the other hand, have a gift." Callen says, gesturing to North who pulls the box from his coat and hands it to him.

Callen walks up to the Queen, and flips the lid open. The rose is nestled in black velvet, the ice shining in the dull light of the room. He could hear the sharp intakes of breath from the attendants. "We hope it is to your liking."

Pale fingers trace the stem of the rose. "Interesting." She says flatly, not sounding interested at all.

"Pick it up." North tells her, almost beaming at displaying his craftsmanship.

She looks at him curiously before picking it up delicately. Almost immediately, the tune starts playing, and her full lips fall open slightly as she watches the flower unfold.

"I have not seen anything like this." She breathes, tracing the ice petals gently.

Sandy chimes approvingly, while the rest of them let out a short sigh of relief.

An attendant comes to take the gift from her, but the queen waves her away. "No, I wish to listen again." She orders, watching as the rose closes up and then reopens, the tune replaying. She smile on her face is very small, but it is there nonetheless.

Callen looks back at North, who winks knowingly.

"What is it you ask of the Court?" She asks, eyes still on the rose.

"Leave Pitch's side." Callen explains. "There is no need to join ours, but do not fight with him."

She hums again. "I will do as you ask."

They all exchange looks, smiles creeping onto their faces as the feeling of victory takes over.

"On one condition." She adds, finally looking up from the gift and glancing at them from beneath her lashes.

"Yes, my lady?" Callen asks.

"The ice spirit stays with me."

There's a silence as the words are registered, and the tension increases tenfold.

Callen immediately steps in front of Jack. The others move forward as well. "He's not for bargaining." He snarls.

The Queen smirks. "Oh?"

"No, he's not." Callen says sharply. He can feel Jack's breath on the back of his neck, heavy and nervous, and ice cold. It sends goosebumps across his skin. "Why him?"

"He intrigues me. But it was your reaction that intrigued me more." She declares. "Your eyes are uncertain – your feelings for the spirit mixed. However, you defend him. It fascinates me."

"Because you have no feelings of your own." Callen observes.

The Queen rolls her shoulders ever so slightly – a delicate shrug. "Perhaps." She looks at each of them. "I will do as you ask. We are allies as soon as you leave my Court. May you leave safely. The ice spirit is free to leave as well."

Callen bows again. "I thank you, my lady."

"It is your relationship with our previous queen that helped you and your Guardians. Iridia put in a good word for you, Lochlainn." The Queen announces. "You should be thankful that I trusted her and take her word as my own."

Callen nods. "I am, my lady."

The Queen nods back at him, and gestures to Gabriel. "Take them to the surface."

Gabriel, tight-lipped and tense, glares at them before walking towards another archway at the back of the room.

Tooth's hand is on his shoulder as soon as they leave the courtroom, and Callen grins at her. "We did it."

North lets out a loud whoop as the ascend a set of stairs. "We have won!"

"Not yet, we 'aven't." Callen says. "Still need t' find out what other powers he's collected."

"Djinn." Gabriel replies sharply.

Callen looks at him in surprise, almost tripping over a stair as he does so. Sandy pulls him back to prevent him from falling. "Thought you said you didn' know?"

"I heard Her Majesty discussing it." Gabriel says. "Djinn, possibly smaller spirits. I heard warlock mentioned. I know not what else."

"Thank you." Callen says sincerely. Gabriel nods, his gaze lingering at the figure of Jack beside Callen before facing forward again.

There's a light up ahead, and it's evident the storm had passed while they were down in the Court. They exit in a forest – the entrance is made of two trees winding together, their bark splitting as if they had been forced together.

"Ice spirit." Gabriel calls as they leave.

Jack turns.

"If you wish to return to the Court, I promise that no harm will come to you. Unless, of course, you wish for it." The wink Gabriel gives him can only be described as seductive and teasing.

"He's not interested." Callen snaps. "Come on, Frostbite."

Gabriel glares at him, but retreats back into the Court. The trees unwind themselves and empty space is between them. Sandy waves his hand through curiously, but no result.

Callen's not sure why Gabriel flirting with Jack makes him see red, but he sends a stern look Jack's way anyway. "He was toyin' with you. He has no intentions t' be with you."

"How do you know?" Jack replies harshly.

Callen doesn't respond, because he doesn't know. All he knows is that he doesn't want the fae with Jack.

He brushes it off, looking off into the trees to avoid Jack's gaze. "Right now, we need to get back to the Pole. I don't know much on Djinn. If he's usin' warlocks, he might be usin' witches as well."

"Do you know any?" Tooth asks.

He shrugs. "I know of 'em, I don't know 'em personally."

They nod, understanding.

Then North bursts into a grin. "We have won over Pitch!"

"Not yet, mate, but we're closer." Bunnymund replies. "Meetcha back at the Pole." He opens a tunnel and drops down through it. Sandy goes with him chiming cheerfully as he does so.

"Snow globe?" North offers, holding out one of the glass balls.

Jack shakes his head. "I'll fly, thanks." He mutters, before whistling. The wind picks him up and he flies backwards over the tree tops, before turning and flying the other way.

North shrugs, looking at Tooth. She smiles before taking off as well.

"It is just you and me, then." North announces to Callen before breaking the snow globe and they're pulled through the portal.

X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X_X

_Darkness. Battle cries. The sound of metal clanging, swords clashing and screams as the blades hit their target. _

_His blade hits its mark, the man falling before him. He turns to block another blow before twisting the sword out of the man's grasp. It falls to the grass before the man collapses. _

_They're fighting by fire and moon-light, only. He can't see the men in the trees, and his heart feels like it's going to pound out of his chest as he looks around the shadows. _

_There's another clang, right behind him, and he spins just in time to see the flash of a blade before excruciating pain hits him. _

He gasps as he jerks up, hitting his head on the lamp over the desk. "Ow, shit!"

Sandy looks up from the book he'd been immersed in, and produces a question mark.

"Yeah, fine, thank's for askin'. Got anythin'?" Callen asks as he rubs his head with one hand, using the other to send a couple of Friends off before they can start a headache.

Sandy floats over with the book in his hands, and points to a page.

Callen frowns, scanning the text. "You might be onto somethin' there."

"What did he find?" Tooth asks, abandoning her book in favor of flitting over and reading over Callen's shoulder.

"Lamps." Callen exclaims. "There are lots of 'em. Some of 'em more mature than others. For all we know, 'e couldn've gotten a temperamental young one."

"Why would he want a djinn? Three wishes won't do much." Bunnymund asks from his corner of the library. He puts his book down and walks over.

Callen shakes his head. "Not true. Djinn follow orders – not wishes. A djinn stays with his or her master until they're dismissed or transfer t' another master. That 'appens when the other master finds the lamp."

"Huh." Tooth says, pointing to one of the sketches lamps on the pages. "It's so plain."

It looked like a small jar made of lead with a wooden top.

The Irish boy shrugs. "They can make a lamp outta anythin', really. Any container's open. Long as the master keeps the lamp on 'im, the djinn's under 'is command."

Tooth and Bunnymund are listening to him, but Sandy's looking out the window.

"Sandy?" He asks.

Sandy looks at him nervously, and an image of a Nightmare appears above his head.

"Pitch's spyin' on us." Bunnymund translates.

North pokes his head into the library. "Where is Jack? I have not seen him since he flew off." He asks, looking worried for the white-haired boy.

They all look at each other, concerned.

"I'll find 'im." Callen offers. "Keep lookin' for stuff. I'll be back soon, with Frostbite in tow."

**That's all for now! :) Don't forget to review! **


	9. Catch Me If You Can

**I have officially named this chapter "The Chapter That's Really Fucking Annoying". No, seriously, it's called that.  
****I must've written about eight versions, and I couldn't find which one I liked the most. One was too fluffy, one was too serious, another was too emotional, another contained a moment that I wasn't sure I wanted to include yet, just... GAH.  
I'm still not completely satisfied. But I wanted to put this chapter up so that I could get the next one out sooner (the next one contains a new character that I think you guys will like... Hopefully! I'm already in love with him XD)  
A lot of you guys asked "Where's the romance?" or suggested more Jack/Callen moments. So I decided to ditch my whole "make 'em wait for it" thing and indulge you. Which completely messes up everything I was planning, but hey. Whatever you guys want, I guess.  
Special thank you to all my reviewers - I think we're up to 127, now? HOLY CRAP ON A CRACKER THAT'S A LOT. Really, I couldn't have done this without you.  
And extra special thank you's to sushi4427, and sakus, and RenkinMaitai, and everyone else who has PMed me. I love getting things from readers! And if you ask me any questions, then I will probably answer them as long as they don't ruin anything. **

**Hope you guys like, and next chapter should be up in a bit. Have to wrap it up in a pretty little bow first! **

Go to Burgess, Tooth said. You'll most likely find him there.

She didn't say which Burgess.

It took him three hours to get to England, realize the white-haired nuisance wasn't there, and turn right back around.

Even then, he still had three towns of the same name to search through.

Missouri was shot down – same with South Carolina. No snow.

Virginia was another story. It's covered in white, sparkling flakes – the pure white is almost blinding. He sees adults cursing at the frozen windshields, and kids cheering as they leave the school to a foot of snow.

It makes him smile as he goes to the less inhabited part of town.

He sees the dash of blue amidst the brown and white of the bare forest, and brings Pretty into a dive. He can't land her without breaking several branches of multiple trees, so he gets her as close as possible and drops the rest of the way.

He lands in a snow drift, the snow soaking his jeans through to his skin. He winces at the cold, standing up and brushing himself off.

"What are you doing here?"

Callen looks up to see Jack in a tree. He's on one of the higher branches – his back's against the bark, his legs extended out in front of him. His staff is hanging by it's crook on the branch next to him, a few inches away.

Callen goes to stand directly under the tree. He shrugs, putting his hands in his pockets. It doesn't do much to warm them – his jeans are already soaked with ice cold water. "North sent me t' find ya. He's worried." He announces, having to tilt his head up significantly to look at the other boy.

Jack scoffs, making a snowflake twirl around his hand before it falls. Callen watches it disappear among the other white flakes on the ground. "He's always worried. Tell him I'm fine."

"I'm supposed t' return with ya, Frostbite." Callen announces. "We've got a job t' do, or have ya forgotten?"

Jack smirks, standing on the branch. "If you want me, then you're going to have to catch me."

He drops a few feet to a new branch, swinging back and forth. "Or are you not up to it?"

Callen rolls his eyes. "Bit of an unfair advantage, you bein' able t' fly and all."

Jack drops and hangs from the branch, his foot almost kicking Callen in the face. "And you can climb." He replies, grinning.

Callen crosses his arms over his chest and smirks. "I'll catch ya – but no flyin' or jumpin' or gettin' the wind t' help ya. I won't use Friends. Deal?"

Jack salutes him. "Guardians' honor." He replies. "Starting now!"

"Hey!" Callen protests, grabbing onto the lowest branch and attempting to swing himself up. "No fair!"

Jack laughs as he slides along an icy branch, climbing up to the next one.

Callen swings to the next branch, and almost slips from the icy coating. He glares up at Jack.

Jack smirks down at him. "Never said no ice." He announces, freezing the branch right above Callen.

Damn it, he's right – he never said Jack couldn't use ice. He curses under his breath as his bare hands try to find purchase on the slippery ice. They slip, and he finds himself falling for a few, horrifying seconds.

There's a tug at his coat collar, and he's being held up by Jack's staff.

"Whoops, sorry." Jack apologizes before depositing him on the nearest branch. Callen grasps onto it for dear life. "Not funny, Frostbite." He hisses, glaring at the white-haired boy.

Jack winces. "I said I was sorry." He defends, crouching in front of Callen.

Callen lashes out and grabs his ankle, causing Jack to fall on his butt on the branch. The Irish boy grins triumphantly.

"Caught-cha." He declares.

Jack blinks at him in shock, before laughing and shaking his head. "Guess you did."

Callen sits up on the branch – thankfully Jack hadn't frozen this one. They sit in comfortable silence. Jack continues to make snowflakes, taking care with creating their shapes and sending them down to the forest floor.

"'M sorry, for before." Callen finally says.

Jack stops making snowflakes and looks at him. "For what?"

"Snappin 'atcha. With Gabriel. It's not my place, I know-" He pauses here, focusing on some scuff on his boot. "But Gabriel isn't the nicest o' fae. He'd drop ya as soon as ya got uninterestin'. But, ya know, if you're interested in 'im-"

"I wasn't interested in him." Jack snaps.

Callen blinks in surprise. He hadn't expected him to react that harshly. "Ah, well then." He says, because he really can't think of anything else to say.

They look away awkwardly. The scuff on his boot really is interesting, and Jack focuses on making another snowflake.

"…If we're apologizing, I might as well say sorry too."

Callen looks at him. "What for?"

He watches the snowflake move around Jack's fingers. "Your workshop. It was… before I became a Guardian. No one really saw me, and I wanted to be noticed. I mean, North kicked me out and Sandy was busy and so was Tooth and Bunny never really liked me. So I went with you. At the time it was fun, but…." Jack notices he's rambling and trails off.

Callen bites his lip. He wants to say that it's all okay and forgiven, but it's really not okay and not forgiven. He, as a Guardian, had let a lot of kids down. Hundreds, thousands – he lost count because it hurt too much. They'd needed imaginary friends more than ever, and he wasn't able to give them. "But now you realize the consequences?" He asks.

Jack hesitates, but then nods wordlessly.

It's not fixed, he knows, but it's getting there.

He can feel Jack's shoulder brush his, and he leans just a bit closer. Thankfully, Jack doesn't pull away.

Maybe he's just fooling himself, but he's convinced that Frostbite moved a bit closer too.

"Am I interrupting something?"

Callen yelps at the voice, and ends up falling backwards as a result, flailing his arms wildly. He finds himself hanging upside down on the branch. Tooth's upside down, looking at him curiously as a few of her mini fairies buzz around her.

He gives her a blank stare. "Nope, not at all. What's up?"

"Bunny thinks he's found something useful." She announces.

"What sort of thing?" Jack asks.

"Someone who could help us!" She exclaims, looking extremely excited about the idea.

"How 'bout someone t' help me?" Callen asks, still upside down. His arms are crossed over his chest. "Gettin' a bit of a head rush, here."

"Whoops! Sorry!" Tooth apologizes.

He can feel his legs slipping, and then suddenly he's falling again. Only this time, Jack doesn't catch him.

He falls directly into a snow bank. Sure, the snow turns a bone-breaking fall into a uncomfortable-but-safe fall, but now he's wet and he's cold and he has snow down his pants.

Callen glares at Jack, who's snickering as Tooth giggles.

"Yeah, wonderful, laugh at the injured." Callen mutters, standing out of the snow bank, shivering slightly.

"Are you hurt?" Tooth demands, flying down and around him to check for injuries.

Callen waves her away. "I'm fine, Tooth. Just wet and cold."

Jack lands beside them. "We'd better get going."

"Oh, so now you want to go?"

"Well, you did catch me."

"Yeah, but you didn' catch me!"

"You're fine."

"I'm cold!"

"But fine."

"Watch it, Frostbite!"

"BOYS!" Tooth shouts. Both Jack's and Callen's mouths close with an audible 'click'.

"We need to go." She says.

Callen nods, and gestures with his hand. A smaller version of Pretty appears, and he climbs on her back, looking at Tooth and Jack expectantly. "Anybody comin' with me?"

"I'll go." Jack announces, before looking at Tooth. "Meet you back at Santoff Claussen."

Tooth shakes off the shock of seeing the dragon – Callen forgot that she's never seen her before. "Oh, um, all right! Come along, fairies! Oh, and someone please get the molar that little Andrew in Sussex left." She rattles off more kids as she flies away, the mini fairies flying either with her or in other directions.

Jack snorts and shakes his head as he climbs behind Callen. "Does she ever stop working?"

Callen tugs the reigns slightly. "In all the years I've known 'er, I've never seen 'er take a day off."

"And how long would that be?"

"A really fuckin' long time." Callen replies.

He sucks in a breath as he feels icy hands go around his waist.

"You forgot seatbelts." Jack says as an explanation.

Callen laughs nervously. "Oh, yeah, sorry."

He doesn't bother making them. Jack's arms around his waist should make him feel colder, but instead he feels warmer.

He tugs the reigns, and Pretty snorts before taking off into the sky. He can hear Jack whoop in excitement behind him, and the arms around his waist tighten as they head to Santoff Claussen.

He can't say that he really minds.

**Welp, there it is. New chapter should be up soon - it's a LONG one, so be prepared! It's also significantly funnier and more fluffy than the last one, and has a bit more romance in it. So review, follow, or favorite and it'll be up sooner! **

**Thanks! **


	10. Drunk On You

**Sorry for the wait, guys! *sweatdrop* I got pretty severe writers block and lost my muse. Still haven't found it, but it should be back soon. I hope. **

**Was not planning this but GODS DID I ENJOY WRITING THIS. XD I had a lot of fun writing the new character. I think I'm officially in love with him. Sorry, Callen, new love right here! **

**And finally a chapter with some action! Don't worry, the pace will slow down again for those who like it slow. :) **

**HUGE THANK YOUS TO SUSHI AND SAKUS. I love you guys so much - couldnt've made it this far without you! 3 **

**And thank you to all my lovely reviewers! I love you all! Can we get to 150 reviews? Maybe 200? I would love 200 :) **

**In addition - all chapters will be under construction soon. I'm not exactly happy with the way I've been writing it, so I've decided to rewrite some of it to make it less vague and stuff. General idea will be the same, don't worry. Just being nit-picky XD**

**Hope you all like, and let me know what you think! **

** X**

North's waiting for them at the entrance, with a gaggle of elves beside him. It takes several harsh tugs from Callen to stop Pretty from attempting to eat the pointy-headed creatures.

"Bunny has found something that could be of use." North announces as Callen slides off of the dragon, the Friend dissolving away into the frigid air. One of the elves she had in her mouth falls into the snow, only his bell visible amongst the white.

"Really?" Callen asks, attempting to put his hands in his pockets only to find they'd been frozen shut. He glances at Jack who's looking away.

"You're here!" Tooth exclaims as they walk in. "Thank goodness, I thought you got lost!"

"We're fine, Tooth." Jack says, smiling at her and stroking the head of an obviously worried Baby Tooth.

"You just fly really fast." Callen adds as North leads them to the library.  
The door opens to reveal Sandy napping at the desk, and Bunny with his nose in a book and his ears plastered to his head in concentration.

The room has been practically torn apart in an effort to find something, anything, that could help them. Callen pities the yeti that has to put it all back. There are several trays of empty hot chocolate mugs, and there's one new one with stronger eggnog.

"Bunny, they are here!" North calls.

Bunny's ears perk up and he looks away from the book. Sandy continues to nap until Tooth flies over and taps him. Then he blinks sleepily, and gives a small wave to the two boys.

Callen walks over to Bunny, carefully stepping over books and elves. "North said you found somethin'."

"Think I might've." Bunny says, handing Callen the book he was holding. "Look at that, would ya?"

Callen takes the book and almost drops it from the weight. He cradles it, propping one leg up to steady it as he glances at the page Bunny had turned to.

On one side, there's an intricate picture of a slender young man with pointed ears., dressed in metal armor not unlike Gabriel's. However, there are no wings and his face is much less angular than the fae's. Plus, his teeth are normal rather than pointed.

On the opposite page is an equally slender female, dressed in a simple brown gown with freckles dotting her arms and shoulders. Blonde hair tumbles down her back in looks curls, pulled behind her ear to show the point.

"Elves." Callen explains.

"Elves?" Bunny looks at the picture in the book, then jerks a thumb to where three elves had taken possession of the cookie tray. "Ya mean we should get help from those guys?"

One of the elves stuffs a full cookie in his mouth, its cheeks stretching around the shape. It dances and points to its cheeks to show the others this incredible feat. The other elves clap in approval.

Callen blinks. "Er, no. I'm talkin' human-sized pointy eared tricky little buggers who like their alcohol strong and their pranks humiliatin'."

Bunnymund looks back at the picture in the book. "Good, 'cause if I had to work with them-"

One of the elves cheers as it successfully drinks a full glass of eggnog.

Tooth comes up behind Bunny to look at the picture. "They look a lot like the faeries." She observes.

Callen shakes his head. "Separated a while ago. Used t' be in the same clan, but the elves are mostly nomads now." He points to their back. "No wings, see? Created a wee bit of a problem considerin' the fae are vain. Elves were seen as outcasts, and eventually just left all together. Wasn' very pretty when it happened."

Tooth nods, admiring the elfin boy.

"Where do we find big elves?" North asks as he picks another tray up from a couple 'delivery' elves and sets it down, the loud clang waking Sandy up and sending the other elves toppling to the floor. Jack laughs as one of their hats ends up lopsided.

Callen snorts at the spectacle. "I know quite a few places, but there's one in particular."

"Snow globe?" North tosses him the glass globe.

"Oh, no, mates. I'll meetcha there. Where're we going?" Bunnymund asks, opening a tunnel.

"Finnegans Tavern." Callen replies, throwing the snow globe to open the portal.

Sandy wakes up a bit more at the mentioning of a tavern.

Bunny nods and drops down the tunnel as the others go through the portal. None of them notice when an elf trips over a book and tumbles down the tunnel right before it closes.

X

They land in a heap in a small bunch of trees.

Bunny hops out from behind a bush as Callen and North pick themselves off of the ground, Jack, Sandy and Tooth hovering above them.

"Are ya sure this is the place, mate? Seems kind of questionable to me." Bunny glances at the building across the plain dirt road.

Callen nods. "Yep, positive."

The tavern itself seems to be in the middle of nowhere – a stop for travelers in between cities. The bottom level is stone, but the rest of it is made out of criss-crossing wood, the engravings worn but still visible in the warm golden glow that the windows give off. There's music and laughter and rowdy cheering. There's a parking lot with a few cards – a couple is pulling their luggage out of one, and a gaggle of teenagers gets out from a dirty van.

Callen takes the lead and walks across the street, pushing the worn wooden door open.

His eyes immediately widen. "Duck!" He calls, stooping down quickly as an empty beer tankard flies right where his head had been and shatters against the doorjam. There's a slurred apology from somewhere in a corner.

"Yeah, just as a remember." He mutters, stepping inside and gesturing for the others to follow him. North has to bend his head and move sideways in order to fit through, and Tooth remains next to Sandy, eyes darting about in wonder.

From the outside, the tavern looks tiny and crowded. But on the inside, it's ten times as big.

There are worn wooden tables with carvings in them dotting the floor – patrons sit in comfortable stools around them, the tops crowded with elbows and tankards. There's an empty space where two couples are dancing, the girls laughing as their partners lift them to the band's beat.

A bar with frosted, wavy glass windows takes up one whole wall, giving the patrons a few of the back brewing room where someone is working.

"How is this possible?" North asks as he glances about the large room.  
Callen shrugs. "Simple elfin magic." He explains as he moves through the crowd.

North and Bunny follow close behind. Tooth seems to be enchanted by the dancers, watching their bare feet tap against the wood in quick, precise movements to the rhythm. Sandy floats about, looking at the tankards of golden liquid the patrons are drinking.

Jack takes great pleasure in freezing a man's tankard just before he goes to drink it, resulting in the man hitting his nose on the frozen surface. The man frowns and tips it upside down. Jack laughs before joining the others.

Callen approaches the bar, and leans over it, looking for the barkeep.

"Oh, my sweet knight! For a moment I thought I had died and gone to heaven. Now I see that I am very much alive, and heaven has been brought to me!" A voice says from his right.

Callen grins, closing his eyes and shaking his head. "That pickup line hasn't worked in centuries Rhas, and it won't work now."

The man sitting at the bar beside him shrugs. "Hey, it worked last week."

"And 'ow many drinks had the poor lass had?"

"Who said it was a lass? And around eight, maybe? Wasn't really watching." The man says, smiling and holding out a slender hand. Callen takes it and shakes it firmly.

"Been a long time, Call. Was worried you'd gone and offed yourself." The man exclaims, leaning back against the bar.

His long blonde hair is pulled back into a ponytail at the nape of his neck ,and he has startling green eyes, almost toxic looking. His pointed ears are just barely visible. His loose white shirt is timeless and he has leather trousers much like Jack's. His bare feet are propped up on the rung of the bar stool, stained green from grass.

Callen shakes his head. "Don'cha worry. Been busy, is all." He gestures to the Guardians. "Rhas, my friends – North, Sandy, Tooth, Bunnymund, and Jack." He gestures to the elfin man. "This is Rhas. One of the heads of the elfin clan that runs this place. One of my good friends, as well."

"Because I give you booze." Rhas teases, standing and giving an elaborate bow. He takes Tooth's hand and presses a light kiss to her knuckles. "It is a pleasure. Any friend of Callen's is a friend of mine."

Tooth giggles while Bunny steps forward, looking the elfin man up and down as Rhas grins cheekily.

"Callen, would I be right in saying that these are the legendary Guardians you've told me so much about?"

"You would be right indeed."

"You owe me twenty."

Callen frowns. "I don' recall there bein' a bet."

"There wasn't. But now I'm making one."

Rhas lets out an ear splitting whistle, making the Guardians wince.

Another man comes out from the brewery room, a white apron stained with golden liquid tied about his waist. He wipes his hands with a cloth as he looks at Rhas expectantly.

"A simple knock on the door would have done just fine, Rhasmith." The man says flatly.

Rhas waves a hand. "Ah, but that's too subtle."

"It's not a sin to be subtle."

"Perhaps not. But where's the fun in being good and subtle, I ask you? We have legends under our roof! It is a time for celebration! And celebrating means lots of booze!" He looks at the Guardians. "Tell me, have you ever head elfin liquor?"

"I have not." North admits.

Tooth shakes her head, and Bunny looks at the pints on the table warily.

Jack shrugs.

Sandy nods enthusiastically, then frowns, and shakes his head.

Rhas gasps dramatically, prompting an eyeroll from Callen, and splays his hand over his chest. "An outrage! Alec, drinks for all of these lovely creatures!"

The barkeep rolls his eyes but goes to fill the order.

Callen finds a seat at the bar, and the Guardians bring up stools to sit around. Jack prefers to perch on the bar itself, while Tooth sits delicately on a table.

"Rhas is an old friend." Callen explains. "Known you for what, a few centuries?"

"Since 1300's, give or take." Rhas says as he takes a sip of his drink.

Callen looks up at the ceiling as if it would help him do the calculations, then he nods. "Yeah, suppose that's right."

Rhas looks up at north and smiles. "Nicholas St. North. A pleasure to meet you sir. I've heard much about you, both from ol' Call and from others."

North chuckles. "Oh? What have you heard?" He asks, crossing his arms over his chest.

"About your wonderous toys, and your exquisite workshop." Rhas explains, then catches sight of Sandy. "Ah, if it isn't the remarkable little man who manages to deliver dreams to every child every night. A very impressive feat!"

Sandy chimes his thanks.

Rhas turns to Tooth. "I've heard of your beauty, Lady Toothiana, but words pale in comparison to seeing it in person. It's an honor to finally see your beauty for myself."

Tooth flushes almost the same color as her eyes, ahile Baby Tooth and several of her mini fairies swoon down to the table.

"Girls!" Tooth hisses.

The barkeep taps Rhas on the shoulder. "Once you're finished being a bloody schmoozer, drinks are up."

Rhas grins. "Alec, you wound me so! I am not schmoozing, I am merely being friendly!"  
"Yer schmoozin'." Callen pipes up as he takes a sip of his drink. "But please keep it up. I'm curious about what yer gonna say about Cottontail."

The drink is sweet as honey, with the same punch as a shot of vodka. It makes his head spin and his stomach flip-flop pleasantly.

Jack takes a sip of the drink from his tankard, and the drink spills from his lps back into the glass. He sputters for a moment, blue eyes watering. "What the heck is that?" He demands.

Rhas pats the sputtering boy on the back before looking at Callen. "Elfin liquor."

Callen shrugs. "I've 'ad centuries t' get used t' it. Sorta forget sometimes."

Rhas continues to pat Jack on the back as he coughs.

Sandy takes his glass and downs it. He floats a bit higher before hopping up to reach Bunny's.

Bunny snatches it away at the last second and Sandy glares at him, eyeing the glass with the golden liquid.

"Nuh uh, mate. My drink." Bunny says before taking a sip. He makes a face and hands the glass to the little golden man who chugs it happily.

Tooth takes her glass and sips it delicately. Baby Tooth dips her beak in and takes a small sip before hiccupping and flying loop-de-loops around the now-recovered Jack's head.

Rhas laughs. "Why hello there, little one. Not used to alcohol, are you?"

Baby Tooth seems to find him interesting, because she shifts from Jack to flying around Rhas' head instead. He attempts to follow her path before giving up.

North downs his glass, and chuckles. "That is fine drink." He announces.

Rhas grins before looking at Callen. "What brings you to the tavern, with the Guardians no less, after all this time?"

Callen runs his finger along the edge of his glass. "Pitch is back."

"Pitch?" Rhas questions, his smile immediately dropping. "That bastard that you fought so long ago?"

Callen nods. "We need you to-"

Rhas takes a sip of his drink, and flicks his fingers towards one table with a young couple. The boy spills his drink over the girl's top, and starts stuttering and apologizing profusely. The girl, however, laughs and dabs at the mess before smiling at him.

Rhas frowns. "Aw, drat. That didn't go the way I planned." He looks back at Callen, blinking owlishly. "You were saying?"

Callen rolls his eyes. "I was sayin', Pitch's usin' magic."

"What kind of magic?"

"Tried to get the Unseelie on his side."

Rhas pales. "Bloody hell, Call."

"We managed to get the Court on our side, thanks t' North." Callen says. "We know he has a djinn, and possibly a sorcerer. We need allies."

Rhas nods. "I'll contact any clan I can. Can't guarantee they'll accept, but I'll try. You know you've got mine at your back."

"Thank you very much, Mr. Rhas." Tooth announces. Rhas winks at her.

"Anything for you, little lady." He says.

"Ay, back off, ya show pony." Bunnymund growls.

Rhas laughs. "A bit of fun, rabbit. Nothing more." He gestures to the tavern. "Sit, drink, play. You are welcome here."

Then he stops, the smile falling from his face and then reappearing just as quickly. "COUSIN!"

He hops off the stool and crosses to a table where one of North's elves is attempting to get the last drop at the bottom of the glass.

The Guardians exchange looks.

"Did you bring him here?" Jack asks Sandy, who shakes his head. Bunny looks at North who shrugs.

Rhas shakes the little elf's hand before turning to the rest of the tavern. "One of our cousins has deemed us with its presence!"

There's a loud, collective cheer, and suddenly the little elf is surrounded in much larger, much drunker elves.

Rhas plunks a tankard in front of him. "You are welcome, little cousin!" A tray of food is brought out and placed in front of the little elf. "Eat and drink!"

The little elf looks at the food, wide eyed, before licking one of the rolls. It's eyes widen and it licks the roll all over.

Rhas blinks, them chuckles. "Curious relatives, we have."

North's booming laughter echoes through the tavern, while Jack's snickering beside him. Sandy's chiming in laughter; Tooth's giggling, and even Bunny's smiling at the spectacle. Callen chuckles as he takes another sip of his drink.

Alec passes Bunny another, more silver colored liquid. "Might like this better, rabbit."

Bunny frowns but takes a sip, and his ears twitch happily. "Oh, yeah, mate! Now that's what I'm talking about!"

Callen watches as the so called 'Easter Kangaroo' takes large swigs from the tankard and hiccups, swaying slightly.

"Forgot 'ow strong it is." He mutters to Rhas.

Rhas chuckles. "You've build up immunity, Call. Makes sense it wouldn't affect ya as strongly."

The rest of the Guardians watch, amused, as a pretty brunette elf walks up to Bunnymund and offers a hand. "Care to dance?" She asks, eyelashes fluttering.

To their surprise, he accepts, offering his arm and almost tripping as he walks. He looks back at them and gives them a thumbs up.

Sandy returns the thumbs up. Tooth giggles behind her hand, and Jack's laughing so hard Callen's afraid he's going to fall off of the bar.

A moment later another elfin girl takes North by the hand. North can hold his alcohol significantly better than Bunny, but his dancing isn't any better. They both dance like they have two left feet, trying to keep up with the quick movements and failing miserably.

Sandy's content to down as much as he can, a collection of different brews set up around him. He produces numbers above each as a rating, and the barkeep is watching, amused.

Rhas extends a hand to Tooth. "Shall we dance, my lady?"

Tooth's already had two tankards, and the effects are starting to take place as she places her hand in his. She promptly trips – how she manages that while flying is uncertain- as soon as he helps her off of the tale. He chuckles and leads her out to the dance floor anyway. She's flying significantly lower than normal, and Baby Tooth flies around them as Rhas takes her through the steps.

"Think that's going to go anywhere?"

"Hm?" Callen asks, looking away from the dance floor and turning his green eyes to Jack. Jack gestures to Tooth and Rhas.

Callen puts two and two together, and shakes his head. "Doubt it. He chases anythin' in a skirt. Female or not."

Jack seems to have trouble processing that thought, and takes a sip from the tankard. Callen notices his pupils are already blown wider than normal. Lightweight.

He watches Bunny, North and Tooth on the floor. Bunny has two girls hanging off of him now, laughing at every mistake he makes. North's chuckling every time he messes up, and Tooth seems to keep up with the steps pretty well, flitting about gracefully.

"Want to dance?"

Callen looks at Jack. "What?"

The white haired boy gives him a crooked smile. "Want to dance?"

"You're drunk."

To his surprise, Jack giggles. Jack Frost just giggled.

"We all are." Jack replies before standing and grabbing his wrist.

Then he's being tugged out onto the dance floor. Sandy waves before going back to rating brews.

Jack jumps right in, joining the elves in the lively dance. He looks just as graceful as the girls, twirling and spinning and hitting the floor just at the right moment.

Callen's content to watch, but then he's tugged in.

"I want to dance with _you._" Jack announces, taking Callen's hand and putting it on his waist. Callen can feel his hip through the cold fabric, and nervously tries to take his hand away.

Jack doesn't seem to notice and brings him into the dance, jumping to the beat. The collective taps of shoes and bare feet against the wood make their own type of music, mingling with the sounds of the kaval and bagpipes and other instruments.

The movements are slightly planned, the elves leading the way for the others. Soon Callen's switched partners and is dancing with an elfin lad while Jack's being spun around by some mortal tourist.

Then they're back together and Jack's pressed close to him. Way, way, way too close.

He feels cold hands on his neck, cold breath on his face and then there are cold lips against his own.

It's sloppy and Jack tastes like honey and elfin liquor and mint and snow if snow had a taste and Callen's essentially frozen to the spot as Jack kisses him, slow and gentle and ice cold.

Then it's over, and he can feel the frost that's been left on his lips. Jack's cheeks are frosted over as well, and he's panting from lack of breath – from dancing or kissing the Irish boy's not exactly sure.

Jack grins up at him, before dashing off to dance with Tooth and Rhas.

Callen blinks after him, before stumbling towards the door.

X

The cool air feels good after the heat of the dancing, and he leans against the side of the tavern. His thoughts are frozen in place and quickly turning to melty slush the more he attempts to think.

He feels the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, the way they do when you're being watched. He looks around. It's dark – the light coming out of the windows is the only source around.

Dark.

Shadows.

Shit.

He's expecting Nightmares, but then there's hot breath on the shell of his ear and a voice saying, "It's been a while, hasn't it, Callen?"

Callen jerks away from the wall so fast he stumbles through a mortal walking into the tavern. It physically hurts to be walked through, and it knocks the wind out of him as he stares wide-eyed at the darkness.

"I haven't seen you since the Dark Ages. I missed you." Pitch coos from somewhere behind him. He whirls around to see only the dark shadows of the trees.

"You're not welcome here." Callen snaps. His eyes dart about, searching for any trace of the Boogeyman.

"Well, that's not very polite, is it?" Pitch asks.

Then he's knocked off of his feet and back onto the grass. His chest is tingling, like he's been hit by lightning.

"Nice shot." Pitch commends as he emerges from the shadows and stands in front of Callen. "The brave soldier. Trying to get a few more troops? Do you remember last time?"

The Irish boy glares at Pitch, and attempts to get to his feet before he's shot at again.

"Now, now. Don't hit him to hard. Save your strength." Pitch says to someone in the shadows. He doesn't get a response.

Pitch looks back at Callen. "You underestimate my abilities, my dear Callen. My advice to you and your precious Guardians would be to run. Run and hide. Because you have no hope of winning this fight."

"Don't tell Bunny that. You know, bein' the Guardian o' hope and all that jazz."

Pitch smirks. "You can't kill fear, Callen."

"I can damn well try."

The Boogeyman chuckles, seemingly amused by his response. "I will be seeing you, Callen." He starts to fade back into the shadows. "And I look forward to it."

Callen tries to grab him, but all he gets is a handful of black sand that stings his palm.

"Hey, Call! What're ya doin' out here by yourself?" Rhas asks from the doorway of the tavern. "Your rabbit eared fellow is making quite a scene in here."

There's the sound of breaking glass from inside the tavern.

Callen smirks as much as he can, and stands up, ignoring the twinge of pain from whatever the hell had hit him earlier. "That's the sound of five euros."*

Rhas winces. "Yeah, no kidding. How many do you think he broke?" He stops and looks at Callen. "You all right, mate?"

Callen nods. "Yeah, fine. Need a drink is all."

He casts one last glance at the shadows before the door closes, and swears he sees a figure in the trees. He shakes his head, and it's gone.

There's boisterous laughter, and he looks at the dance floor to see North dancing with Bunny. The girls they had been dancing with watch on, giggling behind their hands as North leads Bunny into some complicated waltz.

He looks at Rhas, who's watching the scene with an amused face. "Do I want t' know how this started?"

Rhas merely snorts. "I don't think so, no." He stares at the dancing rabbit. "Is he usually like this?"

"Usually he's real full o' himself, and real uptight." Callen says.

Rhas laughs. "Well, ya know what they say. Dance like nobody's watching."

"Yeh. Unfortunately for them, we're watchin'." Callen replies, looking at where Tooth's giggling as North almost drops Bunny.

It's goofy and silly and lighthearted and he should be laughing and dancing with the rest of them, but he can't shake the feeling of dread that came with talking to the king of Nightmares.

* **This is sort of a running joke between my dad and I - every time something breaks we look at each other and say "That's the sound of (insert amount here) dollars". Love ya, daddy :) **

**Don't forget to leave a review at the door! :) **


	11. Are You Going To Scarborough Fair?

**Long time, no see, huh guys?  
Whoops... it's been over a month. Heh. *scratches neck awkwardly* Well, ya know, writers block and exams and... laziness?  
So, so sorry. Well, now I have the whole thing planned out, so that's good! I have everything planned, all I have to do is write it!  
Thank you to everyone who continued to support the story even though the little break it went through. Don't worry, it's back now! **

**Thanks to Stormgirl415 for her idea - I really enjoyed talking with you; you gave me so many good ideas!  
Special thanks to Sushi, as always, for being with me the whole way! ^_^ **

**Love you guys, and new chapter should be up soon! I know there are a lot of new characters, but there are only *counts* FOUR LEFT! I think... yeah, three or four! And I think you'll like them! **

**Hope you guys like, and don't forget to leave a review! **

** X**

_This time he can see – it's early afternoon when the battle starts. In some ways, this is good. He can see opponents, can tell friend from foe, and can defend himself._

_On the other hand, it means he can see the fallen around him. Can see the blood staining the grass. Can see the men he'd befriended on the ground, their lives sucked from them. _

_He hears the man before he sees him, and thrusts his sword up to catch the blade about to descend on his head. Twist, turn, lock, pull down hard. He follows these movements mechanically, the blade of the enemy falling to the ground and his own blade sinking into the man's body, killing him before he can do any more damage. _

_It's a process he's been through more times than he can count. _

_There's another man on his right – this ones a bit harder. The man knows how to use a sword, and uses it well. _

_But he's better. _

_The man isn't a very pretty sight once he's finished. _

"_Do they know?" _

_Pitch's voice drowns out the sounds of battle._

_He freezes, and lunges towards the voice. _

_Instead all he finds is darkness. His sword is swallowed by it, and his hand is coated in black sand. He yanks his hand away – the sword is consumed by the sand._

_He steps backwards, and hits a wall._

"_Do they know?" Pitch asks again, this time harsher. _

_He's frozen. _

"_Do they?" It's louder. _

"_Do they?" Louder._

"_Do they?" Almost a yell. _

_He covers his ears with his hands, crouching down in an attempt to make it go away. _

"_DO THEY?" It's practically deafening. He opens his mouth, and screams. _

"SHUT UP!"

"Whoa there, a simple 'would you please be quiet' would have done just nicely."

Green eyes shoot open to see a beamed ceiling. Sunlight is pouring in through the window. Cool sheets under his hands, a pillow beneath his head.

No darkness. No battle. No voices.

Callen sits up, wincing at the headache he has. It throbs from the Friends he's received while asleep, and he holds a hand to his forehead in an attempt to dull the pain. It helps a bit, even though there are bears and monkeys and other creatures poking at his mind. "What?" His voice is tired and groggy. How long had he slept?

"Wanted to know if you wanted to come down for breakfast."

He looks up to see Rhas in the doorway, leaning against the wood. The elf's in the same clothes from last night, but his hair's down and he's regarding Callen with a raised eyebrow.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, thanks." He mutters, swinging his legs over the side of the bed. He sorts through the Friends, and sends them on their way. The creatures appear before him, before curling into the same green light and shooting off to their kids. Eventually the headache ebbs away, and he sighs in relief as the pain dissipates. It'll return eventually, he knows, but for now he's free.

Rhas watches his hand flick back and forth, creating the Friends. "Impressive." He mutters as a small pony gallops out the window to one lonely little girl in the States.

Callen smiles softly. "Thanks." He replies as he puts his hand down, and looks at the elf expectantly. Just how long had he been standing in that doorway, watching him through the nightmare?

"Gonna tell me what that nightmare was about?" Rhas asks, shifting his weight onto his other foot.

Apparently he'd been there long enough.

"No." Callen says, voice final.

To his surprise, Rhas nods. "Expected as much," the elf explains, before jerking a thumb towards the hallway leading to the other rooms of the tavern. "There's coffee downstairs – North and Sandy are already up." The elf leaves, his footsteps echoing down the wooden steps.

Callen stands, wincing as his joints crack. His feet are sore from the dancing last night, and his throat feels scratched from the cheering he'd done to the beat. And there's a stinging, needle-like pain across his chest. He lifts his t-shirt to look at where he'd been hit last night.

He frowns at what he sees. A red slash, clean and already healing. Like he'd been whipped by something.

He moves to touch the mark, and the needle feeling intensifies, acting against the magic he had as a Guardian. Huh, so the wound was done by magic, if he takes a guess. Not Pitch, considering the Nightmare King had spoken to someone else. A sorcerer, possibly.

If Pitch had a sorcerer, than even with the elves and Unseelie Court they're unmatched. And it depends on what kind of sorcerer he'd picked. The old ones would've taken some convincing to fight for his cause, but a young and wild one looking for a cause... It would've been too easy.

Callen runs a hand through his brown hair. More work needed to be done, pronto. More allies gathered, unfortunately. They may be several allies strong, but he isn't sure of Pitch. His warning last night had hinted he had many more on his side.

His feet take him out into the cramped hallway, where he can see the room that North had been in is open with the bed made. The stairs are old and worn, but sturdy. Still, he grips the carved railing tightly as he walks down.

He ends up in the main area of the tavern, brighter now that it's day time. The chairs are being pulled down from where they had been stacked on the tables, the floors cleaned up and the tables wiped down by some of the elves he'd seen last night.

A group of mortal tourists are stumbling out the door, still singing rowdily about a wedding and someone named Marie. Callen snorts at the song, hearing them mix up the verses and the words. They got the chorus right, and he commends them for that. He walks towards the bar where North and Sandy are sitting, each with a mug in his hand.

Sandy sees him and chimes a greeting before taking a sip of his large mug of coffee.

North turns. "Ah, Callen! Rough night, eh?" He chuckles a bit. His hat and coat are on the bar stool next to him. "I do not remember most."

Callen gives a small smile. "It was definitely interestin'." He replies, sitting down and drinking his own cup of coffee. He sighs as it warms his insides and takes the edge off of his tiredness. It tastes a bit off, but he knows from past experiences that it's the elves' hangover potion that they give to the mortals the day after. With great booze comes great hangovers.

North chuckles again before dumping another spoon full of sugar into his drink. "Tooth, Jack and Bunny are not yet up. We should expect them soon."

Callen nods, and almost spills his coffee as he hears a loud thunk from the stairwell.

"Ow, bloody hell!"

"Bunny's up." Callen announces.

North stands, chuckling as Bunny wobbles over, clutching his head. "Ah, Aster! How was your night?"

"Aside from feeling like I got hit ova the head with a hammer and not remembering anything?" Bunny snaps, collapsing into the seat next to Callen. The barkeep slides him coffee.

"Yes, aside from that." North responds, face jovial.

The Pooka glares at him. "Well I don't know, maybe I'll tell ya when I remember!" Bunny hisses, gulping the drink down.

"Ya 'ad several pints, danced with a few very pretty elfin girls and then danced the night away with Ol' Saint Nick over 'ere." Callen says flatly, jerking a thumb towards North.

Bunny and North look at each other with identical faces of pure horror. Callen snorts a bit, spitting coffee back into the mug at the action.

"Uh, we didn't-" Bunny asks.

"We did not do more-" North adds.

"Than-"

"Dance-"

"Did we, mate?"

Callen looks at them, one eyebrow raised to lead them on. "I don't know, ask Sandy. He's the one who was watchin'."

The two older Guardians look at the little golden man expectantly.

Sandy seems to take great joy in finishing his coffee, a painstakingly long process, before looking at Bunny and North and shaking his head no.

They both sigh in relief, and Callen smirks into his coffee mug.

"That was not proper Tooth Fairy behavior." Tooth declares as she flutters down tiredly, Baby Tooth chittering at her shoulder.

"Mornin', Tooth." Callen greets, gesturing to the seat next to him. Rhas comes out from the back room with a steaming cup of golden liquid, and a new sugar bowl given North had dumped it all into his coffee.

Tooth gives him a tired smile and takes the tea that Rhas offers her. "Good morning!" She looks at Baby Tooth. "120 Axis Lane, North Carolina, canine!"

Baby Tooth chirps before flying off, a minifairy on a mission for her mistress.

Tooth spins in a circle as she sips the tea, her energy coming back quickly. "Oh, last night was fantastic! Can we come back again?"

Rhas grins at her. "Come back any time you like, little lady." He picks up one of the tankards from last night and starts to wash it.

Callen looks at Rhas. "Thanks. We'll be leavin' soon as Frostbite gets up."

There's a crash upstairs, causing all of them to look up simultaneously.

Callen looks up at the ceiling. "And 'e's up."

Jack walks down the stairs, misses the last step and stumbles forward, clutching his head. His staff is dangling by his fingertips. "What happened last night?"

Rhas slides him a mug of coffee. "Here." He suggests as Jack sits down, resting his elbow on the bar and putting his head in his hand.

Jack looks at it warily. "That doesn't have any booze in it, does it?"

"Nothing aside from coffee and a hangover elixir."

Jack takes a sip, winces at the taste but continues to sip.

Callen stares at him, eyes analyzing the frost spirit's every action. Given how drunk he was last night, there's a big possibility that he doesn't remember his little drunken kiss. But there's a slim chance that he will remember. "What do ya remember?"

Jack frowns. "Honestly? Not much." He shakes his head. "Having a sip, having multiple sips, and that's pretty much it."

Callen sighs a bit in relief. So he didn't remember the dancing, or the flirting, or the kiss. That was….good, he guesses, if a little disappointing. But it also means that he can pretend the whole thing never happened, if he wanted to. "Okay."

"Should I be remembering something?" Jack asks, raising an eyebrow as he looks at Callen.

Callen shakes his head. "Nah, just checkin'." His face turns solemn as he looks at North. "Pitch was 'ere."

Bunny immediately puts his coffee down, the brown liquid splashing onto the bar with the force. "What?" He demands, ears twitching irritably.

North looks at Callen. "When?"

"Last night."

"What did the bastard say?" Bunny snaps, grip on the coffee mug making the clay crack.

"It was a warnin'." Callen explains, running a hand through his hair nervously. "That 'e's more powerful than we think. 'e's got a sorcerer now, too."

"Bloody hell." Bunny mutters, glaring into his mug. "North, can ya get some more spirits on board?"

"I will try to gather forces."

Callen rests his elbow on the counter, and rests his forehead on his hand. "Pitch doesn' know that we've got the Unseelie Court, but that doesn' mean that 'e won't try other creatures."

"Oh, there're more?" Bunny throws his paws up. "Between the elves an' the faeries an' sorcerers, 'ow many more are there?"

"Says the Pooka." Callen deadpans. "An' I'm just sayin' we should put as many eggs in different baskets as we can."

"I'm gettin' sick of bein' dragged around!"

"Then why don't'cha go recruit other spirits then?" Callen glares at him. "I'm sure the groundhog would be 'appy t' 'elp."

Bunny shudders. "Ya know what, nevermind. Faeries are fine."

Callen massages his temple. "There's someone we can get, but I'm not sure 'e'll be willin' t' 'elp us."

"Then what the point of goin' to him?" Bunny demands.

"Because if we get 'im, then we've got a valuable ally."

"We're burnin' time, mate."

"So is Pitch."

"But any moment he might-"

"Aster." North puts a hand on Bunnymund's shoulder. "Do not worry. He did not attack last night. Is good sign."

Bunny grumbles, but nods. "Where do we find this mysterious person?"

Callen looks up at Rhas. "Got any to-go cups?"

X

"Should be around 'ere somewhere."

"You've been sayin' that for the past half hour, mate." Bunny snarls as he hops over a rotten log. North just steps ON it, flattening the bark to the ground.

"It's a wee bit hard t' find." Callen explains as he pushes branches aside, holding them for Tooth and Jack as they come through. Sandy's short enough that he just walks beneath all of them. North decides to slice through the branches.

There's a small clearing, and they step out into it. The grass is damp from the rain that northern New York had just had, and Jack freezes a few of the dew drops, making them sparkle in the sun.

There's a couple large rocks to the side, but other than that it looks like a regular clearing.

Callen looks around. This clearing's familiar, and has a sense of magic. A sense he recognizes easily. "This is it."

Jack frowns, flying forward. "This is what?" He demands, looking around. "All I see is an empty clearing, there's nothing h-"

He runs smack dab into something invisible. "Ow!" He pulls back, rubbing his nose. He frowns, putting his staff out. The wood hits something hard with a dull clack, and he aims a bit higher. The same sound. Frost curls around something invisible before dissolving.

Callen beams. "Ah ha!"

Jack pulls back. "Uh, what?"

Callen walks next to him, and puts his hand out. It hits a rocky surface, bumpy and cool. He curls his fingers to fit around the rock. "It's here."

"What's here?" Tooth asks, flying up to them.

Callen opens his mouth to answer when a booming voice echoes through the clearing.

"WHO DARES TO CROSS MY TOWER?"

The voice knocks Bunny back on his tail, and makes North wobble on his feet a bit from the sheer volume of it. Callen clings to the surface in front of him to prevent from falling over.

He grins a bit. "Nice doorbell."

"It isn't a doorbell!" The voice is quieter now, but a bit more annoyed. There's a slight New York-er accent to it.

"Long time no see, mate." Callen tells the invisible wall.

"And I'd prefer to keep it that way, thank you." The voice replies.

"Aw, come on! We're in a spot o' trouble, Ri. Need yer help."

"That what you said last time."

"Last time wasn't that bad."

"I call being caught on fire very very very bad."

"That was yer own fault."

"Was not!"

"Was too."

"Was not!"

Callen rolls his eyes, making Jack snort and Tooth giggle. "Come on, Ri. Open up."

"What's the magic word?"

"Please?"

"Nope, changed it."

"Riley." Callen says sternly.

"Gotta say it, Call."

"Please open up. I've got company."

"And that makes a difference?"

Callen huffs, before kicking in front of him. His boot hits something hard.

"Hey, no kicking my tower!"

"Then open the damn door!"

"Fine, fine. Someone's in a mood."

What was once empty air shimmers, revealing an old stone tower with a turreted roof and vines climbing up the gray stone. There's a creaking sound, and a door next to Tooth opens.

"Wipe your feet!" The voice calls, this time from inside.

Callen gestures to Tooth. "Lasses first."

She flies in, but stops in awe.

Jack flies after her. "What are you – whoa."

A staircase winding the whole height of the tower stands before them, wrapping around the inner walls in a spiral. It looks like it goes on for ages, up until it hits the roof.

Callen pushes past them and kicks the bottom stair. Immediately the staircase starts moving upwards, like an escalator. He hops on, North and Bunny close behind. Tooth, Jack and Sandy follow them up through the air.

As they head closer to the top, the scent of wood and leather and ink is almost overwhelming. There's the sound of pages rattling, and fire crackling and things bubbling above them.

Callen steps off first as the others look around.

The top room of the tower is circular, and humongous. They step onto warm wooden floors, covered by either a carpet or piles of books. Tapestries line the walls, telling stories of times past. A fire roars on one side of the room, pots and pans and cauldrons and things brewing in the heat. The other walls are covered in books. Books in every language imaginable, every color binding and on every subject ever thought of. It's even more extensive than North's library. Ladders span the shelves, allowing someone to climb up and grab the books.

Callen looks around for the owner of the books. He searches for a brunet head attached to a lanky body, and frowns when he doesn't see it. "RILEY!" He calls.

There's a huge crash of books falling to the floor, and they all wince at the loud noise followed by a high-pitched yelp. Dust flies up as books fall to the floor in a pile.

Tooth flutters over to the pile of books. "Are you all right?" She asks, spying a pair of legs coming out from beneath the pile.

"I will be as soon as I get these books off." The person says flatly, and an arm emerges from the pile of books. "Little help?"

Callen walks over, and takes the hand, tugging the person out of the pile.

The arm belongs to a lanky brunet with glasses and brown eyes, dressed in a gray vintage t-shirt and ripped jeans. He steps up out of the books, shaking one off of his leg as he stumbles out of the pile. He adjusts the spectacles on his nose. "I told you not to yell when I'm on the ladder!" He snaps at the Irishman.

Callen smiles sheepishly. "Sorry, Ri." He looks at the Guardians. "This is Riley. Riley, the Guardians."

Riley blinks. "THE Guardians?"

"THE Guardians." Callen explains. "Meet Bunnymund, Nicholas Saint North, Queen Toothiana, the Sandman, and Jack Frost."

Riley gives a short, awkward bow. "Pleasure."

"And you're a sorcerer?" Bunny asks skeptically, looking the brunette up and down.

Riley shrugs. "Yeah, what were you expecting?"

Sandy produces images of pointed hats, robes, wands, and several other items associated with sorcerers and wizards.

Riley snorts. "You try working near a fire for seven hours a day in heavy robes and you tell me how you feel." He gestures towards the fire where the pots are bubbling. "That's where I spend most of my time."

Bunny huffs indigenously. "I was expectin' ya ta be older." He looks the brunet up and down - he couldn't have been more than 25, maybe 26.

"Not all sorcerers have beards and pointy hats and wrinkles." Riley snips defensively. "And I do have a wand, don't use it very often, but I use it. It's just…." Riley blinks, looking around at the mounds of stuff surrounding him. "Um…." He lifts a book up.

"Here." Callen plucks the wooden stick from Riley's back pocket and offers it to him exasperatedly.

"Oh, yeah!" Riley exclaims, taking it from him with a grin.

Jack snorts while Callen rolls his eyes. "I swear ya lose yer wand more often than ya try t' find yer glasses when they're on yer head." The Irishman says.

"It was only a few times. And I don't think you're here to insult me, are you?"

Callen shakes his head, looking to the other Guardians to explain.

"Pitch has returned." North says.

"Pitch?" Riley asks, tilting his head to the side. His brow furrows in confusion.

"Boogeyman." Callen explains, flicking through a book a few feet away.

"… what's that?"

"He gives nightmares." Callen looks up at Riley.

"Still don't get it."

"Bad guy who wants t' kill all o' us an' cover the world in darkness."

"Oh. Okay."

Callen snorts before turning back to the group. "Riley's the only sorcerer I know of who'd be willin' t' 'elp us."

"Hey, who said I'd be helping you?" Riley demands, glaring at the Irishman.

"I did." Callen puts his hands in his pockets. "Please?"

"NOW you say it. And what exactly am I helping you with?"

"Fighting Pitch." Tooth explains, hovering near Riley. "We're gathering as many allies as we can in order to defeat him."

"And you need a sorcerer?" He asks.

"Pitch has one already." Jack adds, tapping his staff on the ground and freezing a bowl of questionable liquid before pushing it under a table.

Riley looks at Callen. "He does?"

"Considerin' 'e shot me in the chest with some sorta lightnin' bolt thingy, I'd say yeah." Callen explains.

Riley facepalms. "You idio- ok, let me see."

"It's fine."

"He hit you with lightning. That is not by any definition fine."

"Riley-"

"C'mon, let me see."

"No." It comes out harsh and snapped, and the sorcerer recoils.

Callen winces. "Sorry. It's just a scratch, really."

Riley stares at him, but nods. "Yeah, sure, fine, I'll help."  
Tooth gives a small cheer, and hugs him. "Yay, thank you!" Then she pries his mouth open. "Oh, you have beautiful teeth!"

Riley looks sideways at Callen. "Um, Call? Why is she looking at my mouth?"

"Tooth Fairy."

"Ah ha."

"Tooth." North chastises. "Fingers out of mouth."

"Sorry!" Tooth exclaims, letting go of Riley's mouth and backing away.

Callen looks at Riley. "We've got the Unseelie Court, Rhas, and you as allies."

Riley shudders. "I don't like the Court. They're dark and skinny and creepy and give me the shivers something awful. And why'd you pick the booze boys? Would've had better luck with the Staypuff Marshmallow Man."

"Because they've got numbers." Callen explains, laughing slightly as the other Guardians look at each other, not getting the reference.

"Fair enough."

"Got any other suggestions?"

Riley scratches the back of his neck, thinking. "Not any specifics, no. But the Fair might be a good place to look."

"Fair?" Tooth perks up, hovering a bit higher. "What's that?"

"A gathering with food and games and vendors." Jack explains. "Burgess has one every year."

Callen pales. "The Fair? Really?"

Riley shrugs. "Biggest gathering of magical creatures there is. Could get weapons too." He tilts his head towards Tooth. "And she seems to like the idea."

"When is it?"

"Tomorrow, if I can remember." Riley turns and flips books off of a desk until he gets to a small piece of parchment, with scribbles of dates and moon sketches. "Wait, no, today."

"Thanks." Callen looks at the other Guardians. "We're goin' t' the Fair."

"Hold up, hold up." Bunny says, hopping forward. "What the bloody hell is the Fair?"

"Scarborough Fair." Callen explains. "Used to be a mortal thing, but magical creatures took it over. Now it's a gathering place for creatures of all sorts." He doesn't tell them some of the more unorthodox actions, like the fights that come with the Fair and the dangers that come with the fun.

Bunny grumbles at the idea of more creatures. North chuckles and pats him on the back reassuringly.

Callen looks to Riley. "We'll call when we need ya."

"Can you send me a dragon?" The sorcerer asks.

"How 'bout a carrier pigeon?"

"Party pooper."

Callen snorts, and looks at North. "Snow globe?"

"I'll take a tunnel." Bunny says, tapping his foot. "Uh, where are we goin'?"

"Scarborough."

"Could've guessed that, mate." Bunny hops through the tunnel.

Callen looks at the others. "Shall we?"

"I've never been to a Fair before!" Tooth spins excitedly.

"Well, I can guarantee ya 'aven't been t' one like this before." Callen says dryly as he drops the snow globe.

They jump through and tumble out in a tent. Callen runs smack dab into a display of shields. North knocks a few from the wall, and Sandy, Jack and Tooth just wait while the Irishman and the Russian stand up.

"Hey, watch it!" The vendor exclaims, glaring at them. He points to the shields that fell from the wall, and North quickly hangs them back up on the wall.

"Our apologies." Callen mutters as they exit the tent.

His eyes widen as he sees the ocean of people and creatures before them.

"How're we going to find Bunny in this?" Jack asks, hovering a bit above the crowd. He remembers a similar crowd when he delivered snow on New Years Eve to New York. It looks like Times Square

"That's a very good question." Callen replies. "And I have no fuckin' clue."

There are several creatures with ears, almost long enough to be Bunny's. He can already feel himself panicking.

Bunny, in a sea of magical creatures with his boomerangs and short temper.

Oh, boy.

"Well, this is gonna be fun."

**Hope you liked, and don't forget to leave a review! Don't worry, I won't leave you hanging for long ^_^ **


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